Next week, pitchers and catchers for the Pittsburgh Pirates head down to Bradenton, Florida, and report to spring training.
It will kick off preparation for the 2025 season, one in which the Pirates desperately need to take a massive step forward and hope to bring playoff baseball back to PNC Park for the first time in 10 years.
Their pitching is quite interesting to look at as the season starts to come alive again. The Pirates have one of the best starting rotations in the league, led by NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes and rounded out by names like Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Bailey Falter and perhaps someone like Bubba Chandler if he excels in camp.
What is far less certain is their bullpen, which was framed as the team’s greatest strength last season before crumbling under the pressure. Last year, Pittsburgh’s relievers had a combined 4.49 ERA, the fourth-highest mark in Major League Baseball. They converted just 60% of their save opportunities last season, good for 23rd in the league.
Leading the unfortunate implosion of the bullpen was closer David Bednar, who suffered an absolute nightmare of a season. The Pittsburgh native suffered a career-worst season virtually across the board, putting up a 5.77 ERA, 1.422 walks and hits per innings pitched, 4.4 walks per nine innings, 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings and a 2.07 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Bednar’s season was a disaster from almost the very beginning. A right lat injury caused him to miss most of spring training, leading to him getting very few reps before the season began. Though that proved to not have an impact in his first few games, Bednar blew a save and surrendered four earned runs in his fifth appearance of the season on April 9.
That was the infamous game where Bednar was booed by the afternoon home crowd, a reaction new Pirate Rowdy Tellez criticized fans for, saying “We don’t do that here.” That remark would hang over both Tellez and Bednar during the rest of the season, but Bednar’s fall was far more stunning.
A year after he led the National League with 39 saves, Bednar recorded only 23 last season, blowing seven saves and posting a 5.63 ERA when pitching in the ninth inning. His unreliability resulted in manager Derek Shelton eventually removing him from the closer’s role at the end of August, but by then he was merely rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
His nightmare season undoubtedly cost him some money in contract negotiations, but the Pirates were still very interested in bringing him back, managing to avoid arbitration and signing the 30-year-old to a one-year deal worth $5.9 million.
To general manager Ben Cherington’s credit, retaining Bednar was the right call. Bednar’s resumé with the Pirates, which includes two consecutive all-star appearances and three seasons of an ERA at 2.61 or lower, was too impressive to let one bad season completely sway their opinion of his talents.
But even if the Pirates still show confidence in Bednar, it does not mean they should willingly hand the keys to the closer’s role back to him.
There’s a lot to still like about Bednar, and it’s understandable for the Pirates to still have faith in him, but without bringing in any insurance policy or suitable backup in the event Bednar doesn’t return to form — which is certainly possible — the Pirates are taking a huge and unnecessary risk.
He lost that job for a valid reason. He should have to earn it back for a valid reason too.
Unfortunately, the path looks rather easy — too easy — for Bednar to reclaim the closing role in the bullpen. Unlike last season, when the team shocked the league and inked relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman to a double-digit deal, the Pirates haven’t brought in anyone with serious closer experience.
The two relievers the Pirates have extended big league deals to, Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza, have limited innings like that. Last season, Ferguson pitched just 9.0 innings in the ninth inning, with a 5.00 ERA and opponents batting .261 against him in all high-leverage situations. Mayza had a 5.59 ERA in 9.2 ninth innings and was lit up for a .375 opposing average in his minimal high-leverage situations.
Both lefties are coming off of down years, but unless something completely crazy happens, the team won’t look at either guy as closer material.
Cherington was noncommittal in his end-of-season press conference about where Bednar would figure into the bullpen.
“He has performed extremely well in that role in the past, so we know he can do it,” Cherington said. “It’s also December, and I don’t think we need to make decisions on exactly what role right now. But we’re very confident in David and know how hard he’s working this offseason.”
Now it’s February, and Cherington’s offseason has made it clear that the Pirates still envision Bednar as their closer in 2025. It’s just poor planning on Cherington’s part, failing to generate any sort of perceived competition for the job right from the jump.
But even with limited outside competition brought in, the Pirates do have some internal options who could rise to the occasion. Relief pitcher Dennis Santana was phenomenal after the Pirates claimed him off waivers in June with a 2.44 ERA. A third of the righty’s 39 appearances came as the Pirates’ final pitcher. Kyle Nicolas is an option, too. The righty got much better as the season went on, finishing with a 3.95 ERA and finishing 20 games for the Pirates last season.
The Pirates have to do everything in their power to get a fair look at anyone and everyone for that role. It’s a clean slate for everyone. There are no favorites or pole positions. If Bednar still comes out on top, all the props to him for battling back and reclaiming that gig. But if he struggles, the Pirates shouldn’t hesitate to explore someone else in that spot.
Bednar has to get the closer’s role back thanks to something other than his name.