4-10-24 – By Gary Morgan – @garymo2007 on Twitter
Carmen Mlodzinski was a revelation when he was promoted to the Pirates. The 25 year old Hilton Head, South Carolina native had a fine rookie season for the club with a 2.25 ERA in 36 innings and he put his stake in the ground as the first of Ben Cherington’s first round picks to not only make the league, but stick too.
Now the Pirates have ended his rehab assignment and optioned him to AAA. A forearm scare is nothing to sneeze at and his velocity is ever so slightly down from where it was last season, but we’re also talking about 2 rehab innings and a guy that still touched 96 on the gun.
No, this is a different, in this case, Carmen is a victim of depth. There’s a lot of it.
I mean here’s a guy I said before the season we’d see as our best option to close games as the season played out, he’s been optioned and I’m not even miffed. Know what I mean?
Like who would go for him right now? Oh, hell, what am I thinking, Bednar right? I’m sure at least a few of you go there, again, they see this as something they’ll get their arms around, so for now, I’m ok with even this, if only because they have so many guys I’m comfortable with and about to reintroduce Colin Holderman too, it makes sense to just give him some extra time, work a few more innings, see if you can’t tick back up to 97-98 and then call on him when an injury or performance forces it.
Roansy Contreras, Josh Fleming and Aroldis Chapman are the only players who can’t be optioned from the bullpen to AAA. In other words, if the Pirates come to believe they can no longer use the first two anyway, they’d have to DFA or Designate them For Assignment, which removes them from the 40-man roster and gives every other team in the league a chance to claim them or deal for them.
Now, let’s be real, if David Bednar goes to AAA, it won’t be an option, it’ll be the IL. So that really leaves Luis Ortiz, Jose Hernandez, Ryder Ryan, Colin Holderman and Hunter Stratton who could be optioned for Carmen.
Honestly, again, I really really like Mlodzinski, but who you sending there? They’ve all been really good, again with the exception of David, but getting David right is important too, so it’s hard for me to just advise something for all I know they’ve identified and think they can fix in a couple bullpen sessions.
In about 11 days, Ryan Borucki will be eligible to come off the IL too. Doesn’t mean he will, but triceps irritation doesn’t give you the PTSD of UCL or second opinion seeking. He’ll likely require someone being optioned too.
I feel like Carmen will pitch meaningful innings for this club, but I’d also say aside from Borucki, he’s the last of the “excited to use” cavalry that currently acts as a reliever.
It makes me feel like we could see the team hold onto a guy like Bailey Falter in the pen and option one of these other arms to make room for Paul Skenes when they’re ready for that call up (earlier than you think I’d bet). Before you bite my head off, he has no options, and if he’s shown to be a relatively passible lefty, I could see them using the option process and those who have them to keep as much depth in house as they can.
You could also see them decide they can call upon some guys who are traditional starters like Quinn Priester or Braxton Ashcraft. You’d be surprised how many development things go out the window when you’re actually in a race and need help.
It always seems to be the case, but as I look at the landscape of the Pirates bullpen options, it feels like a place we’ll see them be shopping for in July. Even if it’s just more depth they can stash in AAA. Or, gives them a chance to option someone as depth and replace them with a veteran they acquired.
It’s shocking seeing good players optioned, but when you let yourself reason your way around it, I think you see why it makes sense. Roster management is so rarely about “the Best 26”, baseball’s roster rules don’t support that kind of Pollyanna fantasy.
Unless you want to lose good players for nothing and then buy more at the deadline, it stands to reason you better embrace working around the rules and using the options they provide to ensure you don’t run out.
In many ways you have to make decisions that ensure you have enough gas to get where you’re going without knowing the gas prices along the route. So you plan for more than you think you’ll need, pinch pennies on the road snacks and maybe stop using the Cruise control in Mountain country to save as much fuel as you can.
The worst thing that happens is you wind up where you were headed with a fist full of 20’s you didn’t get to spend. Hey, no harm no foul, enjoy that parasailing excursion ya know?
Carmen and all the guys who have options are a luxury, and how they use this flexibility needs to remain forward thinking, but that doesn’t make it hurt any less when someone you really believe in has to go to the minor leagues. Especially this guy, he’s every bit an MLB pitcher.
Much like Douglas MacArthur, He shall return.
Steel City Pirates 