Pirates remain confident in Felipe Rivero after spring struggles, poor first outing

DETROIT — After a poor spring and rough first outing of the season, the Pirates are confident Felipe Rivero will return to form, general manager Neal Huntington said.

In eight spring outings, Rivero allowed 11 runs — four earned — and five walks in seven innings. He gave up seven hits, including two home runs.

“He had the one outing in Florida where it was Felipe, and that was the guy we were used to,” Huntington said. “His delivery was in sync, the arm was explosive, the velocity was that upper 90s. Some of his other outings, he’s been out of sync, and he’s had a hard time having the arm catch up. He’s missed arm-side high a decent amount, and that tells you that a guy’s out of sync when…