6-24-24 – By Ethan Smith – @mvp_EtHaN
Going back to the beginning of the season, many, including myself, expected the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen to be a top unit not only in the National League, but a top unit in all of baseball, especially after the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman in free agency.
The Chapman signing created a three headed monster in the back-end of the bullpen, with Chapman, Colin Holderman and David Bednar on paper being a seemingly un-hittable group. You even had middle-relief options, like Ryan Borucki, Dauri Moreta and Carmen Mlodinski who were formidable forces in the middle innings in 2023, and suddenly the group was slated to be the best on the Pirates roster.
Notice some of the names I mentioned? Well, because baseball, we never even saw that group all together. Moreta underwent Tommy John Surgery in March, Borucki was placed on the injured list on April 7, Mlodinski began the season on the injured list, same with Holderman, and suddenly, the bullpen was squandering for arms that could, well, throw.
We’ve seen a ton of turmoil in the bullpen, especially in late-April and early-May, seeing the likes of Jose Hernandez, who is now a LA Dodger, Kyle Nicholas, Hunter Stratton, and Ben Heller(woah jump scare), all have their own, unique struggles.
At the time of writing, its June 21, and over the past month, things have been much, much better from the bullpen, to the point that you, the reader, should be much more satisfied with what you’re seeing, because well, it’s been a group that’s performed as a collective.
Over the past 30 days, David Bednar, Colin Holderman and Aroldis Chapman have a combined ERA of 1.65 in a combined 34 appearances, so that three-headed monster seems to finally be coming to form. Want to make it even better? Over the past 15 games, that trio has a combined 1.00 ERA, with Holderman and Chapman having not allowed an earned run in their past 8.2 innings.
So, that’s been a start to the bullpen realizing its potential, seeing as that trio is the most important part of the bullpen because they end ballgames, duh. But the middle relief, which has seemingly been a merry-go-round of pitchers, has improved mightily as well.
Luis Ortiz, who’s been an opener twice in the past week and change, has a 1.62 ERA over 16.2 innings in his past five appearances, regaining some of his 2022 form back, and more importantly, cutting down on the walks and finding his strikeout pitch again.
His opener, Carmen Mlodinski, who was a pleasant surprise in 2023, has a 2.45 ERA over 14.2 innings over the past 30 days, allowing a mere .180 opponents batting average along the way.
Even Kyle Nicholas and Hunter Stratton, the latter on the IL for now, have found their stride as of late, with Nicholas posting a 4.76 ERA and Stratton posting a 0.00 ERA in the past 15 days, albeit in very short outings.
Josh Fleming found a way to give the Pirates four strong innings versus Colorado last weekend, and with the Martin Perez, Quinn Priester and Marco Gonzales injuries, this bullpen has become even more important for the Pirates over the past few weeks.
The bullpen overall ranks 23rd in baseball in ERA(4.50), and that number is inflated by some players no longer on the roster, ahem Ben Heller, among others, but that ranking has dropped from what it originally was earlier on this season.
On top of all this, the Pirates have one of the best rotations in all of baseball right now with Mitch Keller, Jared Jones, Paul Skenes and Bailey Falter, so gelling the two together has been nice to see over the past week, as the Pirates pitching staff has only allowed more than three runs three times in the past nine games.
The bullpen is by no means perfect right now, missing some key pieces I mentioned earlier, but its a unit, much like the offense that struggled throughout the end of April, that is playing back to their potential, or at least close to it, and if the bullpen continues to be formidable, especially late in games, the Pirates will win the close ones more often than not, and that could spell good things as July, and the trade deadline approaches next month.
David Bednar going on the IL with a Left Oblique concern obviously changes the dynamic, but there is hope that they caught it early and he misses a minimal amount of time. This part of the team is crucial to their hopes and expectations in 2024.
Steel City Pirates 
It could always go either way on any individual pitch–that’s a big part of why we watch. But yes, I do think it’s reasonable to expect a rebound from them. I’m still leery on Bednar making things too interesting and Chapman remaining wild (yes, significantly less so, but still). Ortiz, Mlodzinski, and Holderman I trust in their respective roles. Three randos in the bullpen right now (at least to me as someone who doesn’t follow much MLB outside the division), definitely will be good to get back the injured.
More than anything else, I absolutely do not understand the waive of Hernandez. That one’s going to stick out to me until such a time as it’s adequately explained. If there’s no off-field or clubhouse issue, then I can’t make sense of it.
LikeLike