FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Dauri Moreta never had a serious arm issue until last year. That didn¡¯t ease the blow when it finally happened.
Moreta was one of the top arms out of the Pirates' bullpen in 2023, striking out 76 hitters over 58 innings en route to a 3.72 ERA. The right-handed reliever¡¯s wrong-way slider was a borderline screwball -- and borderline unhittable. His money celebration became the stuff of memes and highlight video legend that season, earning a multitude of currency-based nicknames, from ¡°Money Moreta¡± to ¡°The Big Bank.¡±
But in 2024, the bank was closed. Moreta suffered a ligament injury in his right elbow in early March and underwent Tommy John surgery before the season started, sidelining him for the year. He was positioned to be one of the bullpen¡¯s big arms -- its strikeout artist. Instead, the group was down a crucial player, contributing to why the unit did not live up to lofty expectations.
¡°It was frustrating,¡± Moreta said. ¡°As a baseball player, you never expect anything like this, but if it happens, you have to keep working, try to get back healthy.¡±
It¡¯s been almost a year since Moreta underwent surgery, and while he won¡¯t be pitching in a Grapefruit League game this season, he is nearing a return. He started throwing off a mound again when he arrived for Spring Training and has progressed to throwing side sessions on the backfields every Tuesday and Friday. Right now, the plan is for Moreta to start facing live hitters in April, with a return to game action slated for June.
¡°It¡¯s part of the work, part of the process of getting healthy,¡± Moreta said. ¡°I¡¯m working hard to throw as much as possible.¡±
Getting Moreta back would be an obvious boost for a bullpen that has some question marks. His slider is one of the best pitches on the staff, and he showed growth and a confidence in the offering as he progressed through his first season with the Pirates in 2023.
For now, Moreta is still slowly but surely nearing the reopening of the bank.
¡°I just want to get ready for the season,¡± Moreta said. ¡°Try to help the team the most I can. I feel good so far.¡±
Injury updates
• Moreta isn¡¯t the only pitcher on staff still waiting to come back from Tommy John surgery. Johan Oviedo will get new imaging done on his right lat and arm either in late March or April, and assuming all looks fine, will restart a throwing program about two weeks after that.
Oviedo will be throwing plyo balls, which is the first step of a throwing program back from Tommy John surgery, but that doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s starting from scratch in his rehab.
¡°In general with rehab, for every week down it generally takes two weeks to build back up to your previous level,¡± senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said. ¡°I wouldn't say he's starting all over. He will have to get built up to a side and a live BP before we get back in games, but probably not as many. So he won't have to come in to spring training and go through the four to five sides, and then the four to five live BPs. He will have more of a foundation because he was built up conditioning wise, versus starting all over."
• Bailey Falter was scratched from his start Thursday against the Twins at Lee Health Sports Complex due to some ¡°general body soreness¡± after playing catch Wednesday, per Tomczyk. The decision to not start him was described as an ¡°abundance of precaution,¡± and instead he will play catch again back in Bradenton, Fla.
¡°Any time that we don¡¯t feel like the recovery is where we want, we¡¯re especially not going to have him drive two hours down here and then put him in a position like that,¡± Derek Shelton said. ¡°Yesterday, when [pitching coach] Oscar [Marin] and I talked about it we just thought, nah, let¡¯s just wait and see how he goes today and go from there.¡±
• Ke¡¯Bryan Hayes (left side tightness) has been cleared to resume all baseball activities, and the team envisions him being available for game activity in the coming days.
• Spencer Horwitz (wrist) is hitting off a tee and doing medicine ball tosses. The team will likely need another 10-14 days until they consider playing him in a game.