Predicting the 2021 Pittsburgh Pirates Bullpen
After a year where the bullpen was one of the shakiest parts of the Pittsburgh Pirates team. Especially at the beginning of the year, no lead seemed to be safe and you were continuously holding your breath in big situations. Because of this, General Manager Ben Cherington went out and acquired several depth pieces to help the Pirate's young guys as they develop. Now, it is time for those pieces to show they can be effective and win games for the Pirates. With the rosters growing to 26 men this year, there are several different combinations the team could go with, in the center-field bullpen. They could go with 12, 13, or 14 pitchers and each combination pose different challenges for filling out the roster.
Today, we conclude our series of trying to guess the Pirates 2021 roster as we try and predict who will be in the Pirates bullpen on Opening Day. There are a lot of things that factor into these predictions from Rule 5 Draft prospects to how many pitchers the Pirates will have on Opening Day. For this prediction list, we are assuming the Pirates take 13 pitchers and 13 position players. There are some injuries that have affected these predictions with Blake Cederlind undergoing Tommy John surgery and Steven Brault out with a lat strain. However, we will now try and piece together the bullpen that the Pirates will rely on heavily this season as they try to surprise the critics and win ball games this season.
RHP: Luis Oviedo
The first member of our 2021 Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day bullpen is 2020 Rule 5 Draft pick, Luis Oviedo. If Oviedo is not on the Opening Day roster, the Pirates will have to offer him back to the New York Mets. He is a guy who has good stuff, with a fastball that can consistently reach the upper 90s. The Pirates don't want to lose a guy that looks talented so he will be in the bullpen as needed. He has made just one appearance for the Pirates a far this spring and allowed one earned run on two hits over one inning of work. While he will be in the bullpen this year, Oviedo has been training to be a starter throughout his career. In 2019, he went 6-6 with a 5.38 ERA over 19 starts while walking 40 and striking out 72. If the Pirates see enough from Oviedo, he will be in the bullpen all season, and then get a chance to head down to the Minor Leagues to continue training as a starter in 2022.
RHP Chris Stratton
Last season, Chris Stratton got the ball more times than any other reliever in the National League. Since the Pirates traded for Stratton in 2019, he has completely turned things around and reinvented himself as a reliever. When he made the full-time transition to the bullpen in 2019, he broke-out going 1-1 with a 3.66 ERA in 28 games pitched. With a starting rotation that was in shambles in 2020, Stratton knew he needed to step up and be a leader for the Pirates. He responded taking the ball in 27 of the team's 60 games going 2-1 with a 3.90 ERA. He is not a guy who is going to light up the radar gun, but he has the ability to miss bats and generate soft contact that the Pirates need. Last season, he held opponents to a career-best .224 opponent batting average and he is looking to continue to be a reliable long man for the Pirates.
LHP Sam Howard
One of the biggest surprises for the Pirates last season was left-handed reliever, Sam Howard. After spending the first year and a half of his career in Colorado, where he had a 6.63 ERA in 20 games in 2019, Howard completely turned things around with the Pirates. He made 22 appearances out of the bullpen in 2020 and went 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA over 21 innings of work. Howard's pinpoint control was the key to his success as he walked just nine batters during the season. Because his control was on, his strikeout pitch was working as well as he set down 30% of the batters he faced during the season. With PNC Park being a pitcher-friendly park with a short porch in right, it is so important for the Pirates to have a strong left-handed option. Last season, Howard's splits were about equal with lefties hitting .259 against him and Righties hitting .200 in the shortened season. The Pirates need some strong middle relievers to bridge the gap between starters and back-end relievers, and Howard is hoping to be that guy for Pittsburgh.
RHP Duane Underwood Jr.
On March 7th, 2021, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded infield prospect Shendrik Apostle to the Chicago Cubs for reliever Duane Underwood Jr. It was a move aimed to bring some more bullpen depth to the Pirates while bringing in a reliever who had an MLB track record. Underwood Jr. has played parts of the last three seasons with the Chicago Cubs and has gone 1-1 with a 5.20 ERA in 30 career games. 2020 was Underwood's first full-time shot as a Major League reliever, and he took the opportunity in stride. He appeared in 17 games for the Cubs and went 1-0 with a 5.66 ERA in 20.2 innings of work. Underwood Jr. has a five-pitch arsenal that he can use effectively, but the key for Underwood Jr. is going to be limiting hard contact. He had one of the highest hard hit% in the league at 46.3, and if he can get that down, this move could be a steal for the Pirates in the long-run.
RHP Geoff Hartlieb
Last season, the Pittsburgh Pirates saw the emergence of right-handed pitcher Geoff Hartlieb. After a rough go of things in his 2019 debut, Hartlieb had a breakout year in 2020, becoming one of the Pirate's top relievers. Last year, he appeared in 21 games for the Pirates and went 1-0 with a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 innings of work. Throughout his Minor League career, Hartlieb has been training to be the closer of the future. He has had 23 saves in his four Minor League seasons and uses his upper 90s fastball to blow the ball by the competition. Hartlieb has praised the use of analytics by the new regime, and he has used this film to improve himself. He allowed a career-best .205 opponent batting average last season and has earned a spot in the Pirates 2021 bullpen to show what he can do over a full 162-game season.
RHP David Bednar
One guy who has essentially pitched his way into the Pirates bullpen in my opinion is Pittsburgh native David Bednar. So far in eight Spring Training games, Bednar has yet to allow a run in 7.1 innings while striking out 14 and walking just one. He has allowed just two hits so far and three total base runners this season. Bednar came over in the deal that sent Joe Musgrove to San Diego and was mostly thought of as a throw-in. However, since appearing in Spring Training games this season he has drawn comparisons to former Pirates closer Matt Capps. In his previous two Big League seasons, Bednar has combined to produce a career 6.75 ERA in 17.1 innings of work. However, he has a chance to turn things around and make an impact with his hometown team for years to come.
RHP Kyle Crick
The 2020 season was not a fun one for reliever Kyle Crick and the Pittsburgh Pirates. Right from the get-go, you could tell something was wrong as Crick's velocity was way down. When he had been hitting 95-96 mph in the past, he was barely hitting 90mph at the start of the 2020 season. Just four days into the season, the Pirates found the problem and placed Crick on the 10-day Injured List with a shoulder strain. Crick would miss nearly a month of the season, but when he came back he put up some good numbers. In seven appearances in 2020, Crick went 0-1 with a 1.59 ERA in 5.2 innings of work while walking four and striking out seven. The positive that I have seen from Crick this season is his velocity seems to be getting back to where it was. His fastball has averaged 93-94 mph and Crick has pitched to a stellar 1.35 ERA so far this spring. 2021 is a big year for Crick as he looks to bounce back and show that his injury days are over.
RHP Richard Rodriguez
The 2021 Pittsburgh Pirates are looking for a closer, and it might start out being Richard Rodriguez. The 2020 season was a breakout year for Rodriguez as he went 3-2 with a 2.70 ERA over 24 appearances. When the Pirates needed a closer, Rodriguez stepped up and performed well saving four games in five opportunities. One of Rodriguez's biggest weapons last season was his strikeout pitch as he set down 36% of batters he faced last year on strikes. Rodriguez is looked at as one of the top trade pieces for the Pirates this season, and another strong showing can make him a valuable piece to a contender. The spring has not gone the way Rodriguez has wanted it to, with a 6.23 ERA in 4.1 innings of work. However, he is looking to put his rough spring behind him and be that leader in the bullpen that the Pirates need.
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