Since last week’s trade deadline, several former Pittsburgh Pirates players are still getting settled in with their new teams. Ke’Bryan Hayes is off to a pretty good start with the Cincinnati Reds, while David Bednar struggled in his New York Yankees debut.
On Monday, former Pirates pitcher Bailey Falter made his first start for the Kansas City Royals, and it did not go well.
Falter got shelled by the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, allowing seven runs on eight hits over four innings in one of his worst starts of the year. He gave up five runs in the bottom of the first (including a three-run homer to Jarren Duran), dooming the Royals to an 8-5 loss that dropped their record to 56-57.
The seven runs and eight hits both tied season-highs for Falter, whose ERA ballooned from 3.73 to 4.14 — more in line with his career 4.50 mark. His record also fell to 7-6.
The 28-year-old lefty had pitched well for Pittsburgh prior to the trade, making Monday’s dud somewhat surprising. He’d ended July on a hot streak with just two runs and six hits allowed over his final 12 innings for the Pirates, but the trade may have disrupted his groove.
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Falter was due for some regression, however, as his 4.88 FIP was considerably higher than his 3.73 ERA prior to Monday’s start. Fenway is notoriously tough on southpaws and the Red Sox have been red-hot lately, making his poor outing more understandable.
While he didn’t make a good first impression on Kansas City, he’ll try to bounce back in his next scheduled start against the Minnesota Twins this weekend. The slumping Twins should be a much easier matchup, especially after trading away many of their top players at the deadline.
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Featured image via David Butler II/Imagn Images