Bednar ready 'whenever the phone rings,' but closer job could be calling

TAMPA, Fla. – I prefaced the question by saying I already knew the answer. It was the good-teammate answer.

“Whenever the phone rings,” David Bednar said halfway through the admittedly long-winded question, having already been asked this spring if he was shooting for the closer job.

That’s Bednar. Good teammate. Hard worker. No ego.

And, yes, possibly the 2022 closer.

That’s partly because there aren’t exactly a lot of established relievers on the roster to pick from. If it’s not Bednar, the only other pitchers with backend of the bullpen are Heath Hembree and Chris Stratton, the latter of whom retired two of the three hitters he faced in the Pirates’ 7-4 loss to the Yankees Sunday at George M. Steinbrenner field.

The other part is Bednar was the Pirates’ best pitcher last year, pitching to a 2.23 ERA over 60 ⅔ innings, stranding 19 of the 21 runners he inherited and picking up three saves. This spring he has picked up right where he left off, firing upper-90s heat with curveballs and splitters with bite.

But don’t expect Derek Shelton to name him, or anyone, the formal closer before spring training concludes. Rather than put someone for that role or set-up man, he will opt to use his best relievers in different leverage spots. If the big moment of the game comes in the seventh or eighth, Bednar would be dispatched.

“I think it's really important for our entire group to not have an ego, and David does not,” Shelton said. “Last year, at the end of the year, Stratton pitched there and Bednar pitched there. Depending on the matchup, we could see somebody else pitch there if we have to use those two guys before that. I think the one thing that our group does really well is they understand that we're trying to put them in the best position for success, and not worry about what their label is.”

With that said, Shelton did say essentially the same thing last year only for Richard Rodríguez to quickly emerge in that ninth inning role and stay there until he was traded at the deadline. Whenever Rodríguez was traded, however, it was mostly Stratton and Bednar splitting duties in the eighth and ninth, though not always in the same order.

That arrangement will likely carry over. It doesn’t bother either one, who are usually palling around each other, and not just because their lockers are next-door. 

Stratton is fine with the arrangement too, saying “I just take it in stride” when asked if he knew how he’d be used this year.

But to be that guy in the big spots, the ninth inning, that’s the goal for just about every reliever, including Bednar.

“After becoming a bullpen guy, pitching those leverage innings is the pinnacle of it,” Bednar said. “Going to games, watching guys I remember growing up like [Matt] Capps, [Joel] Hanrahan, [Mark] Melancon, [Jason] Grilli. It’s cool to pitch in those big spots. Those are guys I look up to.

“Anyway, long-winded way to say I’ll be ready whenever the phone rings. I’ll be ready to roll.”

Those closers had what Bednar called (and this reporter whole-heartedly agrees with) “bad-ass entrance videos,” something he wouldn’t mind having one day.

So how do you translate “Renegade” to a baseball hype up video?

“I don’t know, maybe just play the one from Heinz Field,” he joked.

Perhaps in the future. For now, though, he's got a new batch of fellow relievers to wait for that call alongside.

Of last year’s opening day roster, the remaining members of that first bullpen are Bednar, Stratton, Duane Underwood Jr., Sam Howard, Luis Oviedo and Wil Crowe. Of that group, Crowe has transitioned to being a starter again, Oviedo will almost surely start in the minors and Howard is far from guaranteed a roster spot after a shaky finish to last season and start to this spring.

All of a sudden, Bednar has gone from the new guy in town a year ago to one of the building blocks of that in-flux bullpen. If the strategy is to use different guys in leverage spots, that means Shelton is going to have to hand the ball over to pitchers without much experience in that area.

“As different as it is, there are the same amount of guys that are dogs,” Bednar said. “It’s going to be a tight-knit group, and to be successful, it has to be. Looking forward to getting the year going, building those relationships and seeing how good this group can be.”

For a club still in the early stages of its rebuild, that approach to the bullpen of throwing different players in different spots and seeing what sticks can be beneficial.

Assuming, of course, they’ll be ready when the phone rings.

“We’re all ready to go,” Bednar said. “Everybody’s pulling for each other so when their name is called, they’re ready to go out there and be successful.”

MORE FROM THE GAME

• José Quintana was faced with one of the toughest spring training lineups we’ve seen in the Grapefruit League this spring…

And the Yankees hit him hard, going deep three times, the third of which by Aaron Judge cleared the batter’s eye in center field.

“It is what it is,” Quintana said after his second outing of the spring. “That's what happens when you miss your spots. It's the big league, and we're here to get the best chance we can for the season, and it's really good to face things like that.”

JT Brubaker followed and allowed a pair of home runs, including another to Judge. He struck out three over 2 ⅓.

Stratton closed the sixth, and Underwood Jr. worked around two hits and struck out a pair over his two innings of work.

• Diego Castillo and Cole Tucker continued their terrific springs by taking Gerrit Cole deep for solo shots in the second and third innings, respectively.

For Castillo, he is now hitting .333 with five hits and a .945 OPS this spring and making a very good case to be a part of the opening day team.

“The only thing I can control is playing hard everyday every time I have the opportunity,” Castillo said. “And every time that I have it, I will.”

• Oneil Cruz had his first poor performance of the spring, going 0-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts while splitting time between left field and shortstop.

His spring OPS dropped to 1.066 in the process.

• After the game, the Pirates optioned outfielders Jared Oliva and Canaan Smith-Njigba to Class AAA Indianapolis. They also reassigned first baseman Mason Martin and outfielder Cal Mitchell to minor-league camp.

There are 43 players in camp.

• After a team off-day Monday, I’m handing the reins over to DK for the coming week. See you Friday.