Ohlendorf sees the positive in a very unlucky season

The 2010 season was a very unlucky one for Ross Ohlendorf. He ended the season early due to a right shoulder injury. Ohly was also struck on the side of his lead by a line drive and suffered a back injury early in the year.

Ohlendorf was 1-11 with a 4.07 ERA despite having a 2.68 ERA in his last 11 starts. Ross limited a .228 opponent average against and two or less earned runs in eight of those 11 starts (His lone win came on July 2nd against the Phillies).

“That’s Ross,” manager John Russell said. “We saw the efficient innings. I really think he was looking forward to finishing the year, because some good things were happening for him. I think he put behind the win-loss and just focused on what he wanted to do.”

“I felt like I started to hit a stride,” Ohlendorf added. “I would have liked to have stayed healthy and pitch better all season, but going into next year, I feel like I am even better than I was the season before.”

Despite all of that, Ohlendorf remains positive and is convinced he’s a better pitcher now.

“It’s been the least fun year of my career because of getting hurt twice and only having one win,” Ohlendorf said.

“I feel like I’ve gotten a lot better,” Ohlendorf continued. “It’s been encouraging. I certainly take a lot from that. Going into next year, I feel like I am even better than I was the season before.”

Ohlendorf pitched with a lack of run support –The Pirates managed to scored just 27 runs in his 21 starts.

The reason for Ross’ success this season was using his changeup more compared to his fastball-slider mix he used during the 09′ season.

“I felt like, in the last two years, I have continually gotten better with the exception of the beginning of the season,” Ohlendorf added.

Ohlendorf started throwing again on Friday and is continuing to work on getting healthy again. He has not committed to any off-season plans.