Evan Sisk has had a rollercoaster season. He made his major league debut for the Kansas City Royals in April, bounced between the majors and minors and was ultimately traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates at the deadline as part of the return for Bailey Falter.
On Friday, the Pirates recalled Sisk from Triple-A Indianapolis. He pitched against the Cubs on both Friday and Saturday, allowing at least a run in each outing. After a day off, Sisk returned to action and fired a clean inning against the Toronto Blue Jays in relief of Paul Skenes, which netted Sisk his first career win.
After the game, Sisk reflected on the win.
“It’s awesome. You know, especially, as crazy as the last two weeks have been with the trade and everything. Picking up, moving cities, going to [Indianapolis], getting the call to come up here and help the team win. It’s a good feeling,” Sisk said.
Sisk pitched the seventh inning in a tie game before the Pirates grabbed the lead in the bottom of the seventh. He used five different pitches, recording a whiff with each of them. While he doesn’t have premium velocity, FanGraphs’ Stuff+ model grades his sweeper, sinker and curveball as above average pitches. He lived in the zone on Monday as well, allowing him to keep hitters off balance.
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“I think just being able to attack hitters, and get in those leverage counts I need to be in. I get into trouble when I get behind in counts. If I can get into those leverage counts, it’s gonna help me be successful,” Sisk said.
Sisk only faced three hitters, but he went ahead 0-1 against two of them, each of which he struck out. In his major league career, his strikeout rate is almost 38%. He won’t hold that number, but he’s shown the ability to punch hitters out. If he can limit hard contact, Sisk could become a weapon out of the bullpen.
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Featured image via © Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images