How Blake Cederlind's Injury Changes the Pirates Bullpen

Last week, the Pittsburgh Pirates learned that they would be without their hotshot young reliever Blake Cederlind. Today, we look at how his injury changes the make-up of the Pirates bullpen heading into the 2021 season.

Last season, one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' biggest issues was how many times they were bit by the injury bug. They had a total of 11 men on the injured list by season's end, and we're hoping for better success in 2021. However, they have already lost their first pitcher of the year as it was discovered that Blake Cederlind suffered a strained UCL. He was placed on the 60-day Injured List and the Pirates are currently trying to decide what the next best step would be moving forward. Cederlind was supposed to be a big member of the Pirates bullpen, but now he is likely out for the season. With the loss of a top-notch reliever, the Pirates are going to have to shuffle some things around to fill the void.

Luckily, unlike last season, the Pirates do have plenty of pitching depth to replace Cederlind. They just signed two bullpen options in Trevor Cahill and Duane Underwood Jr., and each of those two could step in Cederlind's place. With the Pirates likely to have at least 13 pitchers on Opening Day, that leaves eight bullpen spots on Opening Day in Chicago. With the back-end of the bullpen being such a question, there are several strong arms that can step in and replace him. Today, we look at some of those hard-throwing prospects and how they may impact the Pirates during the 2021 season.

RHP Geoff Hartlieb

It has been a tale of two seasons for Geoff Hartlieb, as 2019 was a trainwreck and 2020 was a dominant season. It was a change of approach that helped Hartlieb go a career-best 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA over 21 appearances during the season. As a former closer in the Pirates system, Hartlieb has the back-end bullpen experience needed for the role. He has a 95 mph fastball and struck out 19 batters in 22.1 innings of work while allowing an opponent batting average of .205. However, his one downfall is he walks too many batters, with 19 walks in 2020. If he can get his walk numbers down, he could become an even more dominant reliever and could live up to his role as a former closet in the Pirates system.

Hartlieb has been very vocal this offseason on how data and analytics have helped him become a better pitcher. He has used the videos and data provided to him to improve himself on the mound and become a more effective pitcher. With Cederlind now out for the year presumably, Hartlieb will get more of an opportunity to be a true back-end guy for the Pirates. During his four-year Minor League career, Hartlieb collected 23 saved and posted an ERA of 2.87 in 188 innings of work. He will work to set-up guys like Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez and provide some stability in the back-end of the Pirates bullpen.

RHP Trevor Cahill

The Pittsburgh Pirates added to their pitching depth last week when they signed free agent Trevor Cahill as a free agent. Cahil has split duties between the bullpen and the starting rotation throughout his career. He had a good showing with the San Francisco Giants last season, going 1-2 with a 3.24 ERA over 11 appearances, six starts. Initially, it was really unknown where Trevor Cahill would play for the Pirates in 2021. However, after the injury to Cederlind, it became more likely that Cahill will pitch out of the bullpen for the Pirates. It is the area that Cahill saw the most success in 2021, and he can bring 12 years of Major League experience to help the young Pirates relievers as they progress.

In five relief appearances last season, Cahill did not allow a single earned run in five innings of work. He allowed just two hits during his relief stint while walking three and striking out eight. His opponent's batting average went from an impressive .194 as a starting pitcher to an astounding 1.33 as a relief pitcher. It is clear that as Cahill is getting to the tail-end of his career, his skillset is more that of a reliever than a starter, and he can play to those strengths with the Pirates in 2021. His velocity is not where it used to be, but he has learned how to work down in the zone and get the ball on the ground. With the Pirates focusing on defense this year, this could benefit Cahill as he leads the Pirates bullpen.

RHP David Bednar

Despite how dominant David Bednar had been this spring, there was still no guarantee that he would be on the Opening Day roster. However, with the loss of Cederlind, it is almost a lock that he will be with the Pirates in Chicago on April 1st. Bednar has not yet allowed a run in five innings this spring and has set down 10 batters while walking just one. Not only is he getting outs consistently, but he is doing it efficiently, averaging just over four pitches per plate appearance so far this spring. Perhaps even more impressive than keeping the opposition off the scoreboard is how he is attacking the strike zone consistently.

Bednar has thrown 62.8% of his pitches for strikes and has been able to paint his fastball on both corners of the plate. His 95 mph fastball can get up on a hitter when he is placing it consistently on the inside corner. He balances it with a split-finger pitch and a curveball that he can also consistently throw for strikes. He has been a closer throughout his Minor League career and can be a great asset to the back of the Pirates bullpen. The Pittsburgh native grew up watching the Pirates at PNC Park, and now he has a chance to help Pittsburgh turn into a winner in that same park he went to as a kid.

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