Examining the Pirates’ Bullpen Competition for Spring Training 2024
In two weeks, MLB teams will have pitchers and catchers report.
For the Pittsburgh Pirates, they have a couple new faces in the starting rotation, with veteran southpaws Marco Gonzales and Martín Pérez. It’s possible that a third starter could be added to the mix.
As for the bullpen, it looks to be a pretty solid group on paper. Locks include David Bednar, Colin Holderman, Ryan Borucki, Carmen Mlodzinski, Dauri Moreta, and Aroldis Chapman- once he officially signs.
There are several relievers the Pirates will have in camp, who need to try and claim those limited spots. Let’s review those candidates.
Ben Heller: 32-year-old righty Ben Heller will enter spring training, as a non-roster invite. He signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh during the Winter Meetings.
After getting designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays last year, Heller was traded to the Atlanta Braves, for which the Rays received international bonus money.
Heller posted a 3.86 ERA, in 19 relief appearances with Atlanta.
Injuries have been the story of Heller’s baseball career. Above average pitcher, when healthy, but has a hard time staying on the field.
Colin Selby: At the conclusion of the 2022 season, Colin Selby had emerged as a very intriguing, reliever prospect, within the Pirates’ system. So much so that general manager Ben Cherington decided to protect Selby from the Rule 5 Draft last offseason by adding him to the 40-man roster.
Selby spent most of 2023 pitching for AAA Indianapolis. He appeared in 28 games with the Indians, posting a 3.86 ERA, while striking out 41 batters in 30.1 innings of work (12.2 K/9).
The Pirates called up Selby in early August. Unfortunately, it was a real struggle for Selby at the big league level, with a 9.00 ERA. He made 21 appearances, five of which was in the opener role.
This spring, Selby will look to wipe a clean slate for himself, and show Pirates’ management why he was put on the 40-man prior to last season.
Hunter Stratton: By and large, Hunter Stratton’s 2023 as a whole was quality.
Starting off the year with Indianapolis, Stratton recorded a 3.99 ERA, in 47 appearances. He racked up 74 strikeout in 56.1 innings (11.8 K/9).
Stratton joined the Pirates in September, where he had a 2.25 ERA, in eight games.
After being non-tendered by Pittsburgh on November 17th, Stratton was re-signed on December 8th to an MiLB deal.
Jose Hernandez: Last offseason, the Pirates selected left-hander Jose Hernandez in the Rule 5 Draft from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Hernandez began 2023 off strong, as he put up an ERA of 2.25 through April and May. However, the rookie reliever really scuffled from June onward, as he posted a 7.56 ERA.
With Chapman and Borucki, would the Pirates consider a third lefty reliever, for the Opening Day roster?
Hernandez can be sent to AAA, should management feel he needs more seasoning. At the same time, Bailey Falter is out of options, but also, can give Pittsburgh multiple innings out of the pen, if he fails to make the rotation.
Kyle Nicolas: After being obtained from the Miami Marlins, in the Jacob Stallings trade, Kyle Nicolas entered 2022 as the 19th ranked prospect in the Pirates’ organization, per MLB Pipeline.
Nicolas was in the AA Altoona rotation to begin last year, before getting promoted to Indianapolis on June 16th.
The results as a starter at Indy were a nightmare, with a 10.59 ERA, in five starts.
On August 1st, Nicolas had been moved to the Indians’ bullpen, and his performance was drastically, better. In 14 relief outings, he put up a 2.14 ERA, while showing a real spike in velocity.
Nicolas would receive a September call up with the Pirates. He allowed seven earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched.
Ryder Ryan: Perhaps one of the more interesting pitchers to watch for the Pirates this spring will be Ryder Ryan.
Last season, Ryan made 48 appearances with the Mariners’ AAA club in Tacoma, where he registered an ERA of 3.76. It’s a good figure, when you consider he pitched in the hitter-friendly atmosphere that is the Pacific Coast League.
On August 11th, Ryan made his MLB debut for Seattle, in which he threw a scoreless inning against the Baltimore Orioles.
It was in December that the Pirates had inked Ryan to an MiLB deal. The 28-year-old righty received a NRI to big league camp.
Ryan relies mostly on a two-pitch arsenal - a mid-90’s sinker and slider. He’ll occasionally mix in a four-seam fastball that is thrown at the same velocity.