Bido's journey to majors started with him making most out of 'last shot'

CHICAGO -- On the walls of the Pirates' Dominican academy are the pictures of players who have risen through that facility to reach the majors. Sometimes, it's an All-Star, like Starling Marte. Sometime, it's someone who had to grind his way to the top level of the sport.

Osvaldo Bido definitely falls into the latter category, but he is still a success story.

“Now, we’re gonna add one more picture," Amaury Telemaco, the organization's Latin American pitching coordinator, said.

The 27-year-old right-hander made his major-league debut Wednesday night at Wrigley Field and held the Cubs in check, allowing just one run over four innings pitched. While the bullpen would falter behind him in a 10-6 loss -- starting with Roansy Contreras, the person Bido has at least temporarily replaced in the rotation, being charged with five runs while getting only four outs -- Bido's debut is an organizational win, and one for the Dominican academy.

Especially since his career with the Pirates was not only his first chance to prove himself as a professional, it was also his "last chance" to do so, according to Telemaco.

"Since I was a kid, I always knew, especially back home, that I wanted to a be a big league player," Bido said through interpreter Stephen Morales. "I know that I had the talent to do it. I saw a lot of other players do it. I asked, ‘Why not me?’ Today came finally."

Bido came to the Pirates as a "skinny, young" kid, according to Telemaco, who was at Wrigley representing the Dominican Republic development team. In reality, he wasn't really a kid anymore. He was 21 years old, an age where most teams wouldn't bother adding a player to their academy.

“If you’re 18, you’re old in the Dominican Republic,” Telemaco explained. “Usually, they agree when they’re 14, 15. But Bido [and older pitchers like him], those are the guys that are left behind.”

Bido was a late-bloomer. The lanky 6'4" right-hander was eventually able to get his fastball velocity to touch the mid-90s, and the Pirates were intrigued by the stuff and gave him a shot by signing him for $10,000 in March of 2017, well after the main rush of the signing period. They weren't afraid to sign older pitchers, and their current top pitching prospect, Luis Ortiz, signed when he was 18.

He had some stuff, but he was also raw. He struggled to make pick-off throws, for example, so when other, younger pitchers are working to control the running game, he was at the basics. He had a couple fastballs, a slider that can spill into a cutter. It was a solid arsenal for that level, but he needed to develop it if he had any advancing.

“He knew that was his last chance, and he took advantage of that," Telemaco said.

The Pirates were aggressive with him, knowing he was older. He made his jump stateside baseball just 14 months after he signed. He made the leap to Class AAA Indianapolis towards the end of the 2021 season and recorded a 4.55 ERA in 55 1/3 innings there this year. He may not have been considered one of the team's top prospects, but he was a steady riser.

It was that slow and steady rise that made that phone call to his mom, Carmen, to tell her the news Sunday that much more special. 

"We both broke into tears," Bido said. "That’s what we worked for. We wanted our family to be proud of us as players. The final goal is to make it to the big leagues, and I’m here."

Bido's first major-league start went about as well as the Pirates could have hoped for, even if a couple long at-bats forced him to exit after four innings. He struck out six over those four frames, using his fastballs and slider effectively to miss bats, while only allowing one run. He had to pitch out of trouble often, but made pitches whenever he needed to.

Is he an ace in the making? No. But he is someone the Pirates could turn to as they try to recollect their rotation after a series of injuries. The team needs depth, and Bido showed he can be a serviceable hand.

Point goes to the Dominican academy.

"One of things Bob [Nutting] was very strong on was making sure that our academy was first class and we were developing guys there," Derek Shelton said. "I've seen it. I've been to our academy. It's good. So I think it's really cool that [Rodolfo] Castro, Ortiz, [Yerry] De Los Santos and now Bido are four guys who have come through."

Bido is the fourth different Pirate to start in the academy before rising up, something that the team and the players take great pride in.

"We battled together through the minor leagues and all that," Castro said via Morales. "I’m really happy because he made it. He put in hard work in the Minors and he's here, already doing his work and doing what he loves: Playing baseball.”

Telemaco welcomes that extra attention to the academy, especially since he believes the team will raise the expectations of the type of players they produce. Bido's rise is an example of how that is possible.

“He took advantage of his last shot,” Telemaco said, “and here we are celebrating his Major League debut.”

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THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP Vince Velasquez (elbow)

• 60-day injured list: 1B Ji-Man Choi (Achilles), RHP Wil Crowe (shoulder), RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), SS Oneil Cruz (ankle), LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow), RHP Max Kranick (elbow)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Andrew McCutchen, DH
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Connor Joe, RF
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
6. Jack Suwinski, CF
7. Rodolfo Castro, SS
8. Mark Mathias, 2B
9. Austin Hedges, C

And for David Ross' Cubs:

1. Mike Tauchman, CF
2. Nico Hoerner, 2B
3. Seiya Suzuki, RF
4. Ian Happ, DH
5. Dansby Swanson, SS
6. Christopher Morel, LF
7. Matt Mervis, 1B
8. Yan Gomes, C
9. Nick Madrigal, 3B

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates will try to salvage at least one from this series Thursday night. First pitch is set for 8:05 p.m Eastern between Johan Oviedo (3-5, 4.16) and Marcus Stroman (7-4, 2.42). Eastern. I'll have you covered before handing the reigns to DK for the second half of the road trip.

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