PITTSBURGH -- For as much as of a concern the Pirates¡¯ bullpen was this winter and during the early parts of the season, the unit has been solid of late. In their past nine games, including Friday¡¯s 10-7 loss to the Guardians, since April 9, the Bucs' relievers had held hitters to a .195 batting average. Since April 6, their 3.32 ERA ranks as the eighth-best mark in baseball.
What¡¯s notable is that they¡¯re doing it without the two pitchers many expected to be their setup man and closer. While the team never assigned roles to relievers besides saying they¡¯re a ¡°leverage¡± option, the unit has done better in the short-term after Colin Holderman hit the injured list and David Bednar was optioned to the Minors.
It does raise the question of where they might fit into this bullpen when both return to Pittsburgh.
¡°Right in the middle of it,¡± general manager Ben Cherington answered. ¡°Those guys are proven, in one case as a closer or a late-inning leverage reliever with premium stuff. Absolutely going to need those guys. When they¡¯re ready, they¡¯ll be on the team. No question from me.¡±
Holderman is nearing a return from his right knee sprain and should go on a rehab assignment in the coming days. Bednar¡¯s timeline isn¡¯t as simple. He took two losses in the opening series against the Marlins and was optioned April 1.
¡°We optioned him to accomplish something, to go and work on something specific,¡± Cherington said. ¡°To his credit, while certainly he doesn't want to be in Triple-A, and that was a difficult decision and conversation, to his credit and not surprisingly, he's gone there and completely sold out to what he wanted to do, to what he felt like he needed to do. He's been an incredible teammate. He's pitched very well. We feel like he's certainly trending to accomplishing the objective he went down there with.¡±
Cherington didn¡¯t offer what that specific thing Bednar was to work on, but based off of his Spring Training, early-season struggles and a disappointing 2024 campaign, you have to look at the breaking stuff. When he was in his All-Star form in 2022 and 2023, he was dropping splitters low to his hand side and curveballs low to his glove side. He wasn¡¯t doing that consistently last year or in the early parts of 2025.
Looking at Bednar's pitch charts with Triple-A Indianapolis, he has hit those spots more frequently than he did in Miami, but perhaps not as much as his All-Star campaigns.
Getting healthy and getting right could be a big boost for the bullpen, and both pitchers are still very much in the Pirates¡¯ plans.
¡°Bottom line, excited to get both of them back on the team as soon as they're ready,¡± Cherington said.
Cherington on Cruz's outfield defense
Oneil Cruz has heated up at the dish of late, but his defensive numbers have been lacking so far in his first full season in center field, being worth -2 fielding runs, according to Baseball Savant.
Cherington has ¡°full confidence¡± Cruz's defense will get better over time.
¡°We¡¯re still seeing the physical skills, the athletic skills that should add up to being a good center fielder," Cherington said. "The speed, the arm strength, those things that can¡¯t be taught are there and we¡¯ve seen plays that show he¡¯s capable of doing that, and we¡¯ve seen some days where it hasn¡¯t been consistent enough or tight enough for sure. And he¡¯s aware of that, that¡¯s something he knows about. So, we just got to continue to work with him, help him and he¡¯s got to keep doing the work himself and being accountable for it.¡±
Cherington discusses the offense
The team¡¯s offensive output has been lacking for most of the season, which Cherington attributes to a couple factors. More importantly, he expects an uptick in run production.
¡°We do have some players who, at least based on our internal measurements, are hitting into a lot of bad luck,¡± Cherington said. ¡°We have a bunch of guys whose surface performance is below what we¡¯d expect based on quality of contact, things like that. So, that¡¯s a little bit of a theme for the team, and we also believe we have some reinforcements who, at some point, will be getting healthy and help us have a deeper lineup. So with that, we need to get more consistent offense.¡±