Ben Cherington met with the media at PNC Park ahead of tonight’s series opener against the Brewers. Here is the full transcript from the session: 

Question: What made this the right opportunity for Mike Burrows?

Cherington: "Really just about what he’s done. I think coming out of spring training, some specific challenges and goals were put in front of him. He’s attacked those. He’s been building up his volume while he’s been attacking the development goals. We’re seeing improved pitch quality and also separation of the pitch qualities. The performance, obviously, as you can see has been there consistently and been really, really strong. He’s been getting both sides out, left and right, handling all the other things that come in the game. Obviously on the roster already, and we felt like this was the time to give him an opportunity. He’s earned that and deserves it. This will be an opportunity for Carmen (Mlodzinski) to go down and keep working on some stuff.” 

Question: Whenever you look at the amount of pitching you do have in Indianapolis that could be here this year and next year, how do you determine who gets the opportunity and what the opportunity in the majors is, as a starter or reliever?

Cherington: “We feel very good about that group of young pitching, most of which is in Indy and some of which has touched the big leagues this year, and Burrows now will tonight. But you can go to (Braxton) Ashcraft, (Hunter) Barco, Burrows now here, and (Bubba) Chandler, (Thomas) Harrington, Mlodzinski now in Triple-A and there are others, but you just think about that group, that’s a group of young starting pitchers who we believe either already have contributed to the Pirates in 2025 or we hope will in 2025, and hopefully meaningfully with all of those guys. In terms of what the timing is and when it happens, it’s really case by case. There are a number of variables that go into each decision. There is a timing element as one of them -- who’s on the roster and who’s not. That’s one element, but it’s not the only one. Certainly the performance is a piece of it. How they’re getting to the performance. The sort of total volume for the year we want to see from each guy is another piece of it. So, a number of things that go into it. But our hope is that all of those guys I just mentioned are in a position to help us win games in 2025.” 

Question: With Carmen, is there a chance we see him used as a reliever, or is he just a full-time starter now?

Cherington: “The conversation we had with him when we optioned him was that he’s going down to start. We expect that he’ll start tomorrow for Indy. Right now, that will be the focus. That will be the role. As we’ve talked about before, he had been advocating for himself for a couple of years now and convinced us at the end of last season that he was prepared to do the work necessary in the offseason to give himself a chance to do that. We wanted to give him that opportunity. We felt like he did that coming into spring training. It felt like he earned that spot. And he’s done some good things in the big leagues. He’s had some starts where he’s helped us stay in the game or win a game. And then he’s had some other starts where he’s had a couple of hiccups. So, I think he’s learned from that. I think we’ve learned from it. We want to keep that going. Down the road, you know, there’s always scenarios where we might ask anybody to do something different to help us win. But we want to exhaust the starting possibility if we can.” 

Question: So you feel that's his greatest value to the organization, being a starter?

Cherington: “Today.” 

Question: How close is Bubba to earning the opportunity that Burrows is getting?

Cherington: “I think just as I said, that whole group of pitchers that I mentioned, we’ve got our eyes on all of them and the hope is that there’s a spot for all of those guys I mentioned, to come and contribute in 2025. There’s no guarantee of it, but we hope that’s the case. I wouldn’t want to speculate as to when. I think it’s going to be different for each guy. I think in Bubba’s case specifically, certainly he’s performed well and we’re seeing the pitches are getting Triple-A hitters out. Everybody can see that. I think we want to see him continue to challenge himself. I think with all of those guys, the message is ‘treat it like a major-league game while you’re in Triple-A. Think about this being a game against major-league hitters, even though it’s a Triple-A game. Keep yourself at that standard.’ He’s responded to that. So, we’ll see. Again, we’re hopeful he’s in a position to help us win games this year.” 

Question: When you have a player like Bubba who has really dominated that level, do you feel like it sends kind of a mixed message to him when you're asking him to achieve so many things and he's checking, at least on the outside, a ton of boxes, but other guys are getting opportunities to start games before him?

Cherington: "I mean, Michael Burrows has checked all those boxes too, right? And he's performed really well. We think Michael has earned this opportunity. I don't personally think, I think all those guys I mentioned would want to be in the major leagues for sure, absolutely, of course they all want to be in the major leagues and are trying to force their way into that. No question about that. But I personally would doubt, I would doubt that like, the fact that one of their teammates gets called up comes into play for them in terms of how they feel about that. I expect they would rally around Michael Burrows and be excited about Michael Burrows coming up and getting this chance tonight."

Question: Not just necessarily Burrows, but Carmen gets the rotation spot, Thomas Harrington gets the opportunity, it just seems like a lot of people who have been considered for a rotation spot ahead of Bubba this year.

Cherington: "Well again, there's lots of things that go into all those decisions, right? Like if we go back to spring training, and we revisit the conversation we had about all those guys, there were guys coming into spring training that we knew were going to be built up in a different way and be more likely candidates to take starts early in the season. And (Carmen) and Harrington were two of those guys. And there were other guys we were going to go slower with. Chandler was in that category. There are reasons for all of that. There's certain points in the season where it's not really an apples/apples comparison. Again, being on the roster is one thing, not being on it, there's a lot that goes into it. What I would emphasize is that we're fortunate to have that group of young pitchers. Believe all of them are going to help us win games. We hope it all happens in 2025."

Question: Ben, is that something you envisioned when you drafted all these guys in high rounds or early in your tenure here as general manager that you invested in the starting pitching and now they're all coming up at the same time, were you hoping to have a homegrown starting rotation at some point?

Cherington: "Pitching is really important. So we know we have to be good at evaluating it, acquiring it and developing it. Obviously we've got to be good at that to have a chance to win. And we're excited to see some of the fruits of that labor starting to show up. Certainly not satisfied. We've got to keep the pedal down and clearly there's room to improve at the major-league level in our pitching performance. We know that. We're hopeful that some of those young guys will be a part of that this year, even. And certainly beyond. So, excited about some of the progress we've made on the pitching front, not satisfied at all, and it's certainly not a choice between pitching and position players, we need both very clearly and so we're very focused on both of those things, trying to hold ourselves to a higher standard in both of those areas and it's not that we chose to take a path down, 'Let's sell out to pitching.' We've got to have both. To some extent we've just had a little more success on the pitching front and we've got to do that on the position player front."

Question: To circle back to what you talked about on the volume build up, how do you go about choosing which guys you're going to slowly build volume for? Cause it looks like that was the case with Burrows and Bubba this year, whereas Harrington was clearly ready.

Cherington: "It's primarily history. It's not only history. History of where they're coming from in terms of volume. Age, volume history over time, not just the previous year, but over several years, where are they physically, health history, what are they coming off of, etcetera, delivery. There's a number of elements that go into it. Coming into spring training, I think that in Carmen's case he's just a little further ahead in his career and we chose to give him an opportunity to prove he could start. Well you've got to build him up to do that. So he was given that opportunity in spring training. In Harrington's case, he's a college pitcher. It's been a pretty steady development track through the minor leagues. We felt he was in a position to add to that volume in 2025. We felt like he was in a position to sort of build up fairly regularly in spring training. In Burrows' case, he's coming off a shortened season and missing time from Tommy John. We're not going to go from 0 to 100 in one year so we chose a little bit slower. In Chandler's case, he's really young. He's only been a full time starter for basically two years coming into this spring training. And again we're trying to anticipate a full season for him, what's that going to look like? So we chose to go slower."

Question: You talked about how you guys have had success identifying pitching and developing it, but why has there been such a gap in terms of perception and potential from position players, because given where you guys are at offensively, you would think there were guys in Indy that would have opportunities to contribute, and that's really not happening. Why has it been such a struggle to develop position players versus the successes you have had with the pitching?

Cherington: “We’re digging into that every single day. Look, we know that there can be a lag between the work we’re doing and the results. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I’m very confident in the people and the effort that is going toward our assessment of hitters, our development of hitters and the environment we’re creating around hitters. There’s a ton of focus and energy from very talented people, both in evaluation and development. We’re seeing some signs of progress. We need more, no question about it. We want guys from Triple-A to pound the door down. That would be good. I still think that can happen this year. We want more of it over time. There’s opportunity there. We have to stay focused on it. Everybody knows we’ve got to score more runs. That’s not going to happen just by saying it and hoping for it. You’ve got to do the work to do it.”

Question: How do you find the balance between getting young players the opportunity -- at both the major and minor league levels -- and giving veterans opportunities to improve how they've done this year?

Cherington: “It’s just that. It’s a balance. I think that the game is not played in small samples. We all know that. It’s not an easy game to play. I really, really respect the job of a major-league player and how challenging that is. Part of that respect is doing everything we can to provide enough runway for guys to work through stuff and get to where they have been in the past or get to where we think they’re capable of. If you have someone in the organization who is beating the door down and telling everybody that absolutely they’re a better alternative, then of course you got to keep your eyes open to that. Of course it’s a balance between those two things. I think that balance can shift as you get deeper in the season. We’re still in May. Everybody knows we’ve got to get better. Everybody is focused on that.”

Question: Yesterday, we learned that Jared Jones underwent surgery, but not all the details were available. Do you have any more details on exactly what was done to his elbow?

Cherington: “He had a procedure that’s referred to as revision surgery; or in some cases, the term ‘InternalBrace’ is used out there. The distinction basically is that the procedure he had is a revision or a repair to that elbow as opposed to reconstruction. The full reconstruction comes with typically a little bit longer recovery time. The revision or the InternalBrace procedure that he had typically comes with a little shorter (recovery time). It’s still significant. Our hope certainly, if the recovery goes the way we anticipate it going -- and we believe strongly that he’s going to dominate the rehab -- it puts 2026 more confidently in play. That’s the outcome we hope for. So, in terms of how we got there, there was a lot of conversation between Jared, Jared’s representatives at CAA, the Pirates and Dr. (Keith) Meister. These conversations were happening over a period of days as he prepared to go back to visit Dr. Meister and then during the time he was there. So we had a lot of information. Dr. Meister obviously is an expert in this field. He’s performed a lot of these surgeries, both full reconstructions and also the one with the InternalBrace, the revision. He was confident that Jared was a strong candidate for the revision. And he also said, ‘Ideally, I’d get in there before I make a final decision.’ Ultimately, Jared gave him permission to do that, to allow that to be a decision at the time of surgery.”

Question: Did Jared's injury factor into the decision at all to send Carmen down as a starter, as opposed to maybe sliding him back into the big-league bullpen?

Cherington: "No, I don't think so. I think they were totally unrelated. With Carmen, we know he can do other things. It's always a possibility that we would ask pitchers to do other things for the team at some point, if we really felt like this is going to help us win games. We know Carmen is capable of doing that. We chose to give him a chance to start. He made nine starts I think, some good ones, some good signs, some other hiccups. It's often the case that pitchers will benefit from that. He's gotten a lot of feedback now as a starter in the major leagues. He's going to go back to Triple-A, can use that feedback, make some adjustments. Let's see where that takes us. We can keep open all the possibilities down the road. But if he can succeed as a starter, and we think he can, then that's really valuable for the Pirates still, even in 2025, and we want to keep going with that for a bit."

Question: When you say Jared is a candidate for the InternalBrace, does that mean it wasn't a complete tear?

Cherington: "There's an injury. Part of the reason we got to this point is that it was not a black and white case. In spring training it was not a black and white case. And at that time, through the conversation -- again, the same parties were involved in the conversation at the time, including Dr Meister -- it was determined and Dr Meister felt confident that we should take a bet. We should make a bet on conservative care, rehab. Let's see if we can bring this back, because it was not a black and white case. There was an injury there, but it was not a black and white case. And unfortunately, although he made progress, as he got up to longer distances here in the last week or so, unfortunately, some symptoms came back. And that was the signal for all of us that 'OK, well, this didn't go, this didn't work the way we hoped it would,' and so we've got to consider Plan B."

Question: Is it more of a temporary fix over time, or is it meant to be a permanent deal? And is there more of a propensity in the future of re-aggravation when you go this route?

Cherington: "We wouldn't have gone down this course -- certainly, I don't think Dr Meister would have recommended this course -- if there was anything temporary about it. We believe that this procedure was the right procedure for him and gives him a chance to pitch successfully for a long time. We all know pitching. There's no forever guarantee with it. We know that with any pitcher. I've certainly never used that, heard that word 'temporary' to describe it. It's just two choices. The way I would look at it is there's less history with this procedure, because it just hasn't been around for as long. If you look at the data, there's just fewer examples. But to me, this is an example of medical innovation over time. This procedure was developed, it is slightly different. We now have, as an industry, more than one surgical way to solve this issue, whereas 10 years ago, we really didn't, and now we have more than one thing on the table. And in this case, one of the leading experts in the world felt strongly that that was the right choice for Jared."

Question:"Have you heard about outcomes from individuals involved in this procedure?

Cherington: "I don't have that in front of me. ... It is a smaller sample, for sure, than the full reconstruction. Certainly, there's tons of anecdotes of individual pitchers who have come back very successfully from it. We have a good feeling about it."

Question: What has been different about the team since Donnie took over?

Cherington: "I think certainly our compete level has been there, but I think generally our compete level had been there. What I'm noticing moreso is probably just Donnie himself. That's probably what I'm focused on, 'Is Donnie himself?' and trying to help him in any way that we can. Three things that stand out: First of all, the decisions in the game, that's something a manager obviously has control over. Feel like he's made good decisions in the game. He's been prepared, made good decisions in the game, and certainly always been ready to review that after the game in a healthy way. The second thing I would point to is just authenticity. I feel like he's been himself, and that's a really important trait for any leader, but not something you take for granted, because in a job like that, it comes with pressure and there's a higher profile so you want to see someone still be themselves, appear to be themselves, be their authentic self. I believe that's what we're seeing. I think we're seeing Donnie be Donnie, and that's a really good thing. And I think the third thing is seeing how he's communicating inside the room and internally. And I can't share every detail of that, but I think he's doing a very effective job communicating with players, with staff. There's been some changes, obviously, and he's been out front on that communication, and putting people first, as you'd expect him to do. So been very encouraged with how he's handled the job so far."

Question: Amateur physiologists say that Jared throws too hard and that's why he broke down. When he comes back, can you really tell a guy to throttle down? That's his game, throwing high fastballs. Is it even realistic to ask him to change?

Cherington: "I don't think so, specifically. I think what we should be trying to do is help him throw really hard in the most protective way possible. So you attack the physical part, the physical strength, the athleticism, the way he's moving, the delivery, his routine year-round. You attack all the things around the velocity to protect him while he's trying to do that. A human being was up on the mound and they know that they're capable of throwing hard and they know that throwing hard gives them the better chance to get that hitter out. I'm not going to tell him not to do that." 

Question: Henry Davis played what might have been one of his most complete games yesterday. You've talked in the past about how much he's improved defensively, but you're starting to see the bat come around. What does he have to do to earn more playing time or maybe even equal playing time? Where do you have to see signs of improvement from Henry?

Cherington: "Certainly trust Donnie and the staff to make those decisions in terms of who is in the lineup every day, but I think it's just continuing to do what he's doing. As you mentioned, he's been very consistent, solid defensively and he's obviously settled into a routine with one starter, at least. Not to say that's a permanent thing or anything, but they've established a nice routine and you can just see it in a game. He's receiving, he's blocking, he's throwing and the game calling is something none of us are as good at measuring quantitatively, but subjectively as we watch it, we feel like he's doing a good job with game calling. That's been there, and the bat, he's had a history of hitting, he just hasn't done it at the major-league level yet and he's working really hard at that. It's not the easiest thing to do when you're not playing that often, but when he's getting in there, in my view, he's having tough at-bats and he's giving himself a chance. He had some good outcomes yesterday, which is great to see. I think he just has to continue to do what he's been doing." 

Question: There's been some chatter, debate and people have suggested maybe you guys should consider trading Paul. I know you always talk about how you're always listening to any offer that comes in and your line is always open, but would you guys consider dealing Paul Skenes this season?

Cherington: "No, it's not at all part of the conversation." 

Question: You mentioned a little while ago that it's only May, but by the end of the weekend, you'll basically be a third of the way through the season. At what point in the season do the projections that you may have had in March give way to the reality of what you've seen? How much of a sample size is big enough to sort of assess, for 2025, this is where we're at?

Cherington: "We have a big enough sample to tell us a lot about where we are and how we've played, and it's not good enough. We have enough already to say that whatever our forecast was in spring training has changed based on what's happened. Now, what's also true though is we believe we can and will play a lot better. And that's our focus. Whatever has happened and whatever that means for the preseason forecast is what it is, and we can play better and believe we will, and that's our entire focus. I'm not giving you the full answer you're looking for, but I am giving you the truth, which is how we're thinking about it which is we just got to get better. Let's play better baseball, and that's going to lead to winning more games. Then, let's wake up and see where that takes us when we get to July."

Cherington's full media availability in video form: