With the 2022 regular in the books and the offseason approaching, this is the sixth (albeit late) installment in a six-part series taking a look at the Pirates' roster and where they need to focus as they prepare for the 2023 season.
The Pirates have an All-Star closer and a couple of young arms who could be leverage relievers as soon as next year, but injuries exploited how little depth there is in the bullpen and how quickly things can go sideways.
PLAYERS ON THE ROSTER
RHP David Bednar, RHP Wil Crowe, RHP Chase De Jong, RHP Yerry De Los Santos, RHP Colin Holderman, RHP Nick Mears, RHP Dauri Moreta, RHP Yohan Ramirez, RHP Colin Selby, RHP Robert Stephenson, RHP Duane Underwood Jr.
FREE AGENTS
N/A
SEASON STATS
Team Bullpen: 41-38, 4.72 ERA, 33 saves, 28 blown saves
Notable Individual Performers: David Bednar, 3-4, 2.61 ERA, 19 saves, 59 K, 51 2/3 IP; Wil Crowe, 6-10, 4.38 ERA, 68 K, 76 IP; Chase De Jong, 6-3, 2.64 ERA, 59 K, 71 2/3; Duane Underwood Jr., 4.40 ERA, 57 K, 57 1/3 IP
SEASON AT A GLANCE
How does a team have an All-Star closer and still finish with almost as many blown saves as saves?
The 2022 Pirates bullpen was an adventure, starting with hybrid pitchers in April and ending with a bullpen of mostly waiver claims by the end. Along the way, David Bednar took that next step and established himself as the Pirates' closer, earning 19 saves and getting an All-Star nod. Derek Shelton didn't shy away from using him in different roles or for more than one inning either, usually to positive results to steal a couple victories.
However, Bednar's back started to get cranky in mid-June and he wound up missing most of the second half of the season when it was reaggravated. That turned out to be extremely problematic, as the Pirates didn't have any other reliable late-inning arms.
Chris Stratton and Heath Hembree entered the year as the leverage relievers alongside Bednar, but both struggled before Hembree was released and Stratton was traded to the Cardinals. Wil Crowe and Chase De Jong emerged as a quality middle reliever early in the year, but faltered in their looks in the eighth and ninth innings in September. Colin Holderman came over from the Mets in the Daniel Vogelbach trade, and Yerry De Los Santos looked good, omitting his final outing of the season against the Diamondbacks. Both of their rookie seasons were cut short with injury, but they could, and should, be a big part of the 2023 bullpen.
Outside of them, the bullpen was mostly a cavalcade of passing ships. Some pitchers showed some promise in their cameos, like Robert Stephenson and Yohan Ramirez, but for a team that nearly set a major-league record with 68 players used last year, plenty of them were relievers.
The bullpen was going to be in flux, and already has seen a significant amount of overhaul this offseason (hence why this final entry was pushed back). There will be more to come.
PROSPECTS ON THE RADAR
The old adage is that every relief pitcher was once a failed starter, so it's hard to say exactly who is a prospect here. It's way too early to write off pitchers like Kyle Nicolas and Carmen Mlodzinski, even if they could wind up as a relievers.
There were a couple relievers who tore up Class AA Altoona this past year: Tyler Samaniego, Colin Selby and J.C. Flowers. Selby has upper-90s heat and spins two different breaking pitches and was added to the 40 man roster last week. Flowers has a wipeout slider, and Samaniego is a fast-rising lefty. Flowers is Rule 5 eligible, as is Cody Bolton.
WHO IS ON THE MARKET
Ben Cherington said during his end of season media availability that he would like to add more swing and miss to the pitching staff. According to Baseball Savant, their 11.9% bullpen whiff percentage was 29th in baseball. There's definitely room for improvement.
The Pirates have some late-inning opportunity available for pitchers trying to rebound as leverage arms. Pitchers like Will Smith, Corey Knebel, Brad Hand, Adam Ottavino and Taylor Rogers are all big names who will draw attention from around the league, but perhaps not as closers or set-up men. If the Pirates are willing to pay, perhaps the siren call of leverage innings and a short-term deal could lure them over. If injuries aren't a dealbreaker, Ken Giles and Zack Britton have solid pedigrees.
It's a fool's errand to go too far into the depths of free agent relievers. There are major-league free agents, minor-league free agents, players who are up for grabs in trades, the Rule 5 draft and just about every other way to acquire a baseball player. If the Pirates are looking for more whiffs from their pitching staff, they can find it.
And while it's usually not the best investment to spend too much on the bullpen given how they are the most fungible position, they should really take a look and see what opportunities are available, even if it costs more than they would normally spend.
WHAT SHOULD THEY DO?
Pick up a reliever. Or two. Or three. If everything goes right, Bednar pitches a whole season, Holderman and De Los Santos emerge as quality set-up men and some combination of Crowe, Stephenson and De Jong provide solid middle relief. But nothing ever goes right over 162 games, and with the current setup, Shelton is just an injury or two away from having to rely on a waiver claim to pitch the eighth inning again.
Relievers are cheap. They are abundant. They can be flipped for prospects if they pitch well. In his first three offseasons as Pirates general manager, the only reliever Cherington has signed to a major-league deal is Hembree. It's fine to target a reclamation project like that, but if they put too many eggs in that basket, it can backfire. Adding some depth to the bullpen will, if nothing else, show that those late-inning losses bothered the front office as much as it did the players in the clubhouse.