Ranking the Too Five Pirates Relievers Since the 2000 Season
We continue our Saturday Morning Rankings series as we take a look at the top five Pirates relief pitchers since the 2000 season. This list is comprised of pitchers who did not hold the closer's role for the Pirates or only held it for a half-season or less. The closer is usually the one who stands out in the bullpen, but a bullpen is only as strong as the guys who bridge the gap between the starting pitcher and the closer. Since 2000, the Pirates bullpen has seen a mix of every type of pitcher from rookies looking to make their start, to guys looking to bounce back from injury, to wily veterans with experience to spare.
All of them made impacts in their own way and contributed to giving the Pirates one of the strongest bullpens in the Major Leagues. Guys like Matt Capps, Jason Grilli, and Mark Melancon do not qualify for this list because they held the closer's role for longer than a year. After sorting through a lot of relievers here is my list of the top five Pittsburgh Pirates relievers since the 2000 season.
#5 Justin Wilson: 9-5, 2.99 ERA, 136.1 IP
Justin Wilson was one of the first Pirates relievers of the 2000s to be a completely homegrown talent. He was drafted in the fifth round of the 2008 MLB Draft and worked his way up the Minor League system in just four and a half seasons. He made his MLB debut on August 20th, 2012, and started his career with a bang. He would allow just one earned run in his eight games pitched while striking out seven in 4.2 innings of work while walking three. He would want a spot on the Opening Day roster the next season and became a fixture in the Pirates bullpen for the next two seasons.
Wilson had strong numbers in his two and a half seasons with the Pirates going 9-6 with a 2.99 ERA in 136.1 innings of work. While he started his career as a lefty specialist, he eventually went on to dominate against both righties and lefties. His best season in a Pirates uniform came in his first full season in 2013. He posted a career-low 2.08 ERA in 73.2 innings of work that season and limited the opposition to just a .195 average against him. He didn't strike out a lot of batters that season but used his off-speed stuff to force groundballs and weak contest. Wilson raised his strikeout rate the following year, striking out 61 batters in 60 innings of work, but wasn't nearly as effective with a 4.20 ERA. However, he was still one of the most effective pitchers in the Pirates bullpen and was able to keep his career ERA under three.
The Pirates would part ways with Wilson following the 2013 season as they traded him to the New York Yankees for Francisco Cervelli. It was a trade that benefitted both teams as the Yankees got bullpen relief and the Pirates got the starting catcher they needed. Wilson would go on to have a strong 2014 season with the Yankees going a perfect 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA. He pitched for the Detroit Tigers and Chicago Cubs between 2015 and 2018 before ending up with the New York Mets last season. He is still going strong as he enters his age 32 season. However, it was his start with the Pirates that accelerated his MLB career.
#4 Jared Hughes: 15-13, 2.82 ERA, 309.1 IP
Jared Hughes is one of the longest-tenured Pirates on this list, pitching with the team from 2011 to 2016. He was a fan favorite throughout his career and was famous for his sprint from the center-field bullpen to the mound before every appearance. Fans loved him, and he rewarded them putting up solid numbers throughout his Pirates career. In his six seasons in the black and gold, Hughes went 15-13 with a 2.82 ERA in 309.1 innings of work. He struck out 189 batters but showed great command walking just 102 during that time frame.
In those six seasons, Hughes posted an ERA under 3.50 four times, and it seemed the more innings he threw the better he did. His best season in a Pirates uniform came in his second full season in the MLB in 2014. He posted what still stands as a career-low 1.96 ERA in 64.1 innings of work that season. Opponents hit a mild .226 off of him that season and he became known for his ability to get out of jams. He would keep his ERA below 3.20 for the next two seasons and was a fixture as a late-inning reliever. While he was never much of a strikeout pitcher, he was able to keep his walks low and helped the Pirates go from contender to playoff team.
However, Hughes's contract ended in 2016 and the Pirates decided not to resign Hughes and let him hit free agency. He has pitched for three different organizations over the past three seasons and has continued to put up solid numbers. He pitched for the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies last season and had a down year pitching to a combined 4.29 ERA between the two teams. Hughes is now a veteran reliever in the Big Leagues, and it was his start with the Pirates that launched his Big League career and a reunion with his old club is still possible.
#3 Evan Meek: 7-7, 3.34 ERA, 172.2 IP
Evan Meek was one of those sneaky good relievers in his Pirates career, but he was always overshadowed by another arm in the bullpen. Whether it was Matt Capps or Joel Hanrahan, someone was always ahead of Meek as the top late-inning reliever. He pitched for the Pirates from 2008 to 2012 and posted a career 3.33 ERA in 172.2 innings of work while going 7-7. However, those numbers are a bit inflated as a rough patch at the start and end of his Pirates career flanked three very good seasons from 2009 to 2011. He is the first all-star pitcher to crack the list, earning his first and only trip to the All-Star game during the 2010 season.
That would be the best season of Meek's career as he pitched to a career-low 2.14 ERA in 80 innings of work. He only allowed six earned runs before the all-star game that season and posted 35 scoreless appearances out of 40 total. After an injury in August, Meek would get his first chance at being a closer, but failed miserably going just 4-10 in save opportunities. He came back strong in September as a setup man and pitched to a 2.53 ERA. Opponents hit under the .300 mark against Meek in four of the five seasons he was in a Pirates uniform.
After a rough year in 2012, the Pirates released Meek and he has been bouncing around trying to make it back to the Major Leagues ever since. He pitched for the Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles, and Washington Nationals from 2013 to 2015 and was only able to crack the Major Leagues with the Orioles for a spell during the 2014 season. Meek has not been seen in Major League baseball since 2015, but his time with the Pirates was one that will not be forgotten easily. Meek was once again part of the trans that turned the Pirates from perennial losers to a playoff team.
#2 Saloman Torres: 26-28, 3.63 ERA, 483.2 IP
When Saloman Torres came to the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2002 season, he was trying to find his way back into Major League Baseball. He had five years of experience at the pro level pitching from 1993 to 1997 but took a hiatus from baseball for the next four seasons. It turned out to be one of the best pickups for the team at that time as Torres went on to pitch six seasons in a Pirates uniform and went 26-28 with a 3.63 ERA in 483.2 innings of work. Again that ERA was inflated by two bad seasons as he kept his ERA under three in three of his six seasons with the Pirates.
Torres did just about everything you can do in the bullpen from long-relief to set-up man and even a short stint as the closer. However, his best season came in 2004 when he appeared in 84 games out of the bullpen and posted a 2.64 ERA. He allowed just 87 hits in 92 innings of work and struck out 62 batters. While he wasn't your typical lights out strikeout reliever, one thing Torres was good at was his control. He walked just 22 batters that season and walked less than 20 batters in three of his six seasons in the Pirates bullpen.
Torres would spend just one more season in Major League Baseball after finishing his time with the Pirates. He pitched for the Milwaukee Brewers during the 2008 season and finished his career out strong. He posted an ERA of 3.49 and he saved 28 games for the Brewers that season while working in 52.2 innings of work. Torres would officially retire from baseball after the 2008 season wrapping up a 12 year MLB career that saw him pitch for five different organizations. The Pirates took a chance on Torres and showed him that he still had some left in the tank late in his career.
#1 Tony Watson: 31-18, 2.71 ERA, 433 IP
Tony Watson is one of the longest-tenured Pirates relievers in recent history, spending seven strong seasons in a Pirates uniform. He wasn't a name that was talked about a lot due to his consistently good performance coming out of the Pirates bullpen. In those seven seasons, Watson ended up going 31-18 with a 2.71 ERA in 433 innings of work. While he was a left-handed reliever, Watson was never strictly a left-handed specialist as he had success against both types of hitters. Watson never had an ERA over four and made one appearance in the All-Star game in 2014.
During that 2014 season, Watson posted a career-low 1.63 ERA while leading the bullpen with 10 wins that season. He served as the setup man for closer Mark Melancon and picked up what was then a career-high 34 holds that season. It still stands as Watson's best season of his career and one that took him from average reliever to top end late-inning option for the Pirates. Watson posted another sub-two ERA posting a 1.94 ERA in 77 games pitched. He worked in 75.1 innings pitched and struck out 62 batters in the process. After Melancon was traded, Watson stepped in as a set of rotating closers for the Pirates and saved 20 games in 35 opportunities over the next two half seasons.
Watson was traded during the 2017 Trade Deadline to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a package that included pitching prospect Angel German and infield prospect O'neil Cruz, who now ranks as the Pirates number three prospect and their second-highest ranking infield prospects. Watson would be inserted into the back-end of the Dodgers bullpen and continued his success posting a 2.70 ERA in 24 games worked. He left the Dodgers after the year in free agency and has pitched for the San Francisco Giants for the past two seasons where he also served as a set-up man. The closer's role was not meant for Watson, but the Pirates have developed him into a top back-end pitcher.
That concludes our list of the Pirates top relief pitchers since the 2000 season. There were a lot of honorable mentions that could have made this list including guys like John Grabow, Tyler Yates, and long-relievers like Jesse Chavez. Feel free to debate our list and add or take away anyone you think. Joins us next week for Saturday Morning Rankings as we move behind the plate and rank the top-five catchers since the 2000 season.
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