The man who started the 2015 season with the Omaha Storm Chasers — Triple A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals — is now the secret weapon for the playoff-bound Pittsburgh Pirates.
Joe Blanton was purchased by the Pirates after being designated for assignment in late July. The former first-round draft pick had a disappointing past couple years, even taking all of 2014 off from baseball. Before being acquired by the Pirates, Blanton spent the early part of 2015 bouncing back and forth between Triple A and the MLB in the Royals organization.
He was living the life of a happy retired MLB pitcher. He was spending time with his family, playing golf and enjoyed being with his children as they grew up. But, then his new neighbor moved in, left-handed pitcher Zach Duke. Duke and Blanton started playing catch in their backyards, one thing led to another and Blanton found himself in spring training with the Royals.
“I felt like there was something left,” Blanton said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “Felt a little bit unfinished, I guess, like I’d accomplished a good deal, but there was more in there.”
In 41.2 innings pitched for Kansas City this year, Blanton posted a very respectable 3.89 ERA and 40 strikeouts. A career starting pitcher, his appearances were both by way of starting and relieving, and it was his relief appearances that sparked the Pirates interest.
Since joining Pittsburgh, Blanton has already picked up five relief wins, his most since 2012 with the Philadelphia Phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers. His fastball is consistently back in the 90-91 MPH range, which can clearly be attributed to pitching only one or two innings per game as supposed to five or six when he was a starter. But what is most impressive is his 1.60 ERA and 1.01 WHIP.
There are many reasons behind Blanton’s newfound success, one being Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage, as Peter Gammons noted.
There is no better example of the Ray Searage effect than Joe Blanton:18 G, 29.2 IP, 34-8 K-BB, 5-0, 1.82 as key pen contributor
— Peter Gammons (@pgammo) September 25, 2015
The Kentucky native will be the first person to agree that his unorthodox return the baseball wasn’t necessarily the way he drew it up in his mind.
“Some people have it all planned out,” Blanton said, via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But my plan before definitely wasn’t to stop playing, and the plan wasn’t to start again. I’m going no plans right now. Just playing it as it comes.”
Blanton will provide much needed playoff experience for the Bucs. Since 2006, he has pitched in the the ALCS, NLDS, NLCS and World Series, which he won with Philadelphia in 2008. In 40.2 postseason innings pitched he’s racked up 30 strike outs.
There’s no doubt Blanton is just one small piece to the Pirates puzzle, but his experience and nothing-to-lose attitude could make a serious difference in close games come October.