Off-Season Questions: Does David Bednar Fit Into 2021 Bullpen Plans?
Growing up, David Bednar was your stereotypical yinzer coming from a sports-oriented family. His dad was the head baseball coach at Mars High School and he and his two siblings all played baseball in some form or fashion. Bednar was also a fan of all things Pittsburgh sports, rooting on the Pirates, Penguins, and Steelers whenever he could. He graduated from Mars high school in 2012 and went on to play college baseball at Lafayette College. Now, eight years later, Bednar is back in his hometown, but this time he is wearing the Black and Gold. Bednar was a part of the three-team, seven-player, deal between the New York Mets, San Diego Padres, and Pittsburgh Pirates that brought Joe Musgrove to San Diego, Joe Luchessi to New York, and five prospects to Pittsburgh.
Bednar is another high-powered right-hander to add to the Pirates bullpen mix and, after spending parts of two seasons in the Big Leagues with the Padres, he is looking to crack his first Opening Day Roster. He has only spent a short amount of time in the Major Leagues, appearing in a total of 17 games, but the results have not been good. Over his 17.1 Big League innings of work, he has given up 13 earned runs and has an ERA of 7.11. However, those numbers are a little skewed as five of those 13 runs were allowed in one outing during the 2019 season. If you take that outing away, his ERA drops to a more respectable 4.07. Bednar has had success in the Minor Leagues, and now he is looking for a chance to shine in his hometown coming out of the pen.
Bednar's Minor League Success
After a successful three-year career at Lafayette College, Bednar was drafted in the 35th round of the 2016 MLB Draft. From the moment he joined the Padres organization, he was thrown into the fire, working as a late-inning reliever at Class Short-A Tri-City. He needed just eight games to earn a promotion, as he didn't allow an earned run and struck out 15 batters in 10 innings of work. Usually, with high-powered pitchers, there is a susceptibility to control issues, but Bednar did not walk a batter in those eight outings. He made the move to Low-A Ball later that season and continued to succeed posting a 3.43 ERA over 15 outings. This time he set down 25 batters in 20 innings of work and walked four. Opponents were hitting just .227 against him and of his four walks, two were intentional.
He returned to Low-A in 2017 and was dominant once again serving as the team's official closer. He appeared in 24 games posting a 1.54 ERA while concerning nine of his 10 save opportunities. His opponent batting average sat at a career-low .154 and he struck out nearly 40% of the batters he faced. His fastball velocity was helping him climb the ladder, and he moved to Advanced-A to end the year. 2018 saw him spend the whole season with Advanced-A Lake Elsinore and the consistency benefitted Bednar. He posted a 2.73 ERA over his 69.1 innings of work while striking out 96 and walking 29. He moved to Double-A to start the 2019 season, going 2-5 with a 2.95 ERA while converting 14 of 15 save opportunities.
Then, Bednar made a move that few players ever make any more in the Minor Leagues. He skipped Triple-A altogether and was brought up to join the San Diego Padres as a September call-up. He made his Major League Debut on September 1st, 2019 when he threw a scoreless inning against the San Francisco Giants. He didn't strike out a batter, but he retired the side 1-2-3. He appeared in seven consecutive scoreless outings to start his career and allowed just one hit and one walk during that stretch. All eight runs that he gave up that season were allowed four of his final six outings, with the big blow being five earned runs in his final outing raising his ERA to 7.11. 2020 would have most likely seen him go to Triple-A, but with the cancellation of the Minor League season, he appeared in four MLB games instead and allowed at least one earned run in all but one outing.
Bednar and the 2021 Pirates Bullpen
Bednar enters 2021 with the goal of nailing down a full-time position in the Pirates bullpen for the first time in his Major League career. After bouncing around the last couple of seasons, he is hoping to stick in the back-end of the Pirates bullpen. With the closer's role up in the air, Bednar has the experience to fill that role just not at the Major League level. The key to Bednar's Minor League success was his three-pitch mix that he can change speeds on effectively. His main pitch is his fastball, which can hit as high as 96 mph, and that is followed by a slider that hits in the mid-80s and a curveball that drops down as low as 70 mph.
His fastball is his most used pitch and the most effective out of the three. Not only does he have the velocity with it, but he also has the ability to put it wherever he wants to. He has only allowed three extra-base hits against the fastball over his two seasons, and none has ever gone for more than a double. However, it is also the pitch opponents hit around the most, with an opponent batting average of .300 against the pitch. His next best pitch is his slider, and he uses it mostly as his put-away pitch. It has the highest put away percentage at 31.3% and it generated 10 of his strikeouts in 2019. The curveball is still coming along, but it offers a stark contrast to the fastball and leaves batters out in front.
The thing that hurts Bednar's chances of making the Pirate's opening day roster is the fact he has zero Triple-A experience. However, at 26-years-old, he fits the mantra of the youth movement that the Pirates at looking for. The Pirates have no clear set-up man for the 2021 season, and the only back-end spot wrapped up as of now is Richard Rodriguez as the closer. Other than that, you have guys like Blake Cederlind, Edgar Santana (who still has more suspension to serve), and Kyle Crick joining Bednar in a battle for the final spots. If I had to guess, I would say Bednar starts the year in Triple-A, but it shouldn't be long before we see the Pittsburgh kid back in Black and Gold.
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