Carmen Mlodzinski obviously wasn’t very happy when there was a thought of him going to the bullpen. With right-hander Jared Jones returning recently to the Pittsburgh Pirates, the idea was that Mlodzinski was going to have to end up in the bullpen.
I try to sympathize with young guys who want to prove that they can pitch at the highest level in Major League Baseball out of the starting rotation, and I definitely understand why he was upset about the decisions that could have been made.
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Though I’m also glad to see that he’s changed his stance and recently stated that, no matter what he’s asked to do, he’ll do it with a smile and try to help this team win, no matter the circumstances.
“I wanna do what’s best to help us win baseball games,” Mlodzinski said, per MLB.com. “Being around these guys, this team, it’s a pretty cool group to be a part of. Of course I want to start and will always want that, but winning games takes precedence.”
“I think on Sunday the team needed short-term coverage in the bullpen just because of this 14-game stretch that we’re on and the taxing that the bullpen had the previous games,” Mlodzinski said. “We needed to do this to give us the best chance to win on Sunday. Fully in agreement to do what’s necessary for the team, to do what’s best for my teammates to give us the best chance to win.”
It’s unfortunate that the 27-year-old is having to deal with this at the moment, but it’s also the reality of Major League Baseball.
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He’s not one of the best five starters in the Pirates organization right now, and there’s no debate that Jones is. That doesn’t mean the South Carolina native can’t end up there soon, but for now, he’ll have to live with being in the bullpen and doing what he can to earn his spot back in the rotation.