PITTSBURGH -- Ryne Sandberg said Friday afternoon he didn’t know what to expect from Kevin Correia when he made his first start of 2015 Friday. After all, he had only seen Correia throw a side session in the bullpen leading up to his start against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But after 5 2/3 shutout innings in which Correia showed some of the form that made him an All-Star wearing the uniform of the Phillies’ opponent Friday night, Sandberg has to like what he sees.
“He had a good start,” Sandberg said. “He really showed moving stuff, little bit effectively wild at times but made pitches, and for his first outing I thought he did a real nice job.”
Correia limited the Pirates to five hits and one walk. He struck out four and only one runner made it past third base in a start that seemed a distant memory at the end of a 13-inning affair the Pirates won 1-0 on Starling Marte's walk-off single (see Instant Replay).
His start was his first in the big leagues since he gave up seven runs (five earned) in three innings against the New York Mets as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Aug. 24, 2014.
He was then moved to the Dodgers’ bullpen and fared even worse, allowing 12 runs over 10 2/3 innings.
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The right-hander, with 216 career starts, finished the year 7-17 with a 5.44 ERA and found himself on the outside looking in when he looked for a starting job on a major league team last offseason.
Correia did not make the Opening Day roster after spending spring training with Seattle and then declared free agency from San Francisco May 31 after he made six starts for Triple-A Sacramento. It became clear his return to the majors wouldn’t be in a Giants uniform any time soon.
After the latest journey in the career of a baseball journeyman to begin with, Correia succinctly summed up his feelings following his quality start Friday.
“It’s good,” Correia said. “I think there was just a few situations where last year I had a bad run in the bullpen at the end of the year and it kind of put me in this situation that I wasn’t expecting to be in.”
At 34 years old, many pitchers in Correia’s shoes might elect retirement and pursue another professional occupation. His 2012 Pirates teammate Erik Bedard, at 36, did exactly that Thursday after making three starts for the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate.
But Correia had no interest in hanging it up just yet, despite the adversity he faced over the last year.
“It is hard bouncing from team to team, but I didn’t lose any confidence,” Correia said. “I’m throwing the same stuff I was having success with for the past six years. It was just a matter of getting back up here and doing it.”
That was the case Friday as Correia was effective and efficient in his 5 2/3. Sandberg removed him in the sixth after he gave up a pair of two-out singles to bring in left-hander Elvis Araujo to face the Pirates' power-hitting, left-handed first baseman Pedro Alvarez in a tie game.
Araujo induced a weak flyout and Correia’s work was preserved.
Manager Clint Hurdle joined the Pirates organization in 2011, the same year as Correia, and saw more of what he did when the right-hander won 24 games over two season and was Pittsburgh’s Opening Day starter in 2011.
“We’ve seen Kevin pitch well,” Hurdle said. “He came out, he mixed speeds, mixed locations, he gave them a real good start. We’ve seen it in the past.”
After his two seasons in Pittsburgh, Correia struggled in two years with Minnesota before the Twins traded him to Los Angeles in the middle of 2014.
Stability isn’t one of Philadelphia’s calling cards organizationally at the moment but, for Correia, he’s found a foothold back in the majors.
“I’m happy to be back,” Correia said. “I wish it wouldn’t have taken this long but it feels good to be back.”