Bullpen expected to thrive with ‘biggest stable of arms’ in years

BRADENTON, Fla. -- Derek Shelton made one thing clear on more than one occasion this past week: David Bednar will be the Pirates’ closer this season. 

That might be an obvious declaration considering the success Bednar has experienced in his three years in Pittsburgh, which include a pair of All-Star appearances. But it’s fair that questions might arise following the offseason addition of Aroldis Chapman, a 14-year veteran and seven-time all star with eight 30-plus save seasons and 321 saves in his career. 

“David's obviously gonna close,” Shelton said on the first day of pitchers and catchers workouts in Pirate City on Wednesday. “He's kinda cemented himself into that role as one of the better guys in the league at that position.” 

Shelton reiterated the plans for Bednar to be the ninth-inning guy during Spring Training Media Day in Tampa, Fla. on Thursday. Chapman will still have a significant role in high-leverage situations and could pitch the ninth inning on occasions when Bednar is deemed unavailable. 

“Having Chapman, who has closed and at an elite level, it’s nice to have when David’s not ready,” Shelton said. “If we have a matchup and we have to use Chapman in the seventh and [Colin] Holderman has to pitch the eighth, then I think we’ve gotten to the point where we’ve built a bullpen with depth that can shorten the game up.” 

With guys like Bednar, Chapman, Holderman and Ryan Borucki in the back end, Shelton believes the bullpen can be a definite strength this season. Some of the other relief options the Pirates have in camp include Dauri Moreta, Jose Hernandez, Carmen Mlodzinski, Josh Fleming, Braxton Ashcraft, Colin Selby, Kyle Nicolas and Hunter Stratton. 

“There's a ton of competition with a lot of good arms,” Shelton said. 

Bednar, Moreta, Holderman, Hernandez, Borucki and Mlodzinski all give the Pirates valuable experience in relief. Each appeared in 35-plus games and threw 36-plus innings at the big-league level last season. 

The bullpen’s success will once again rely heavily on Bednar finishing out games. The 29-year-old is coming off a career year in which he tied for the National League lead with 39 saves. He posted a 2.00 ERA and collected 80 strikeouts with 21 walks in a career-high 67 1/3 innings. 

Moreta was second on the team in innings pitched (58) last year and sported a 3.72 ERA with 76 strikeouts and 24 walks. Holderman followed with 56 innings of work, as he maintained a 3.72 ERA with 58 punchouts and 20 walks. 

Despite having a 4.97 ERA in 50 appearances, Hernandez racked up 62 strikeouts and walked 22 in 50 2/3 innings. 

Perhaps an unsung hero of the group was Borucki, who put together a number of strong performances in a career-high 38 appearances for the Pirates last season. He compiled a 2.45 ERA and an impressive 0.74 WHIP while limiting opposing batters to a .183 batting average. He totaled 33 strikeouts and just four walks in 40 1/3 innings. 

“It's probably the biggest stable of arms that we've had in the years that I've been here and with different repertoires to be able to to different things," Shelton said. "It's exciting when you have those guys at the backend of the game. One thing we've talked about is wanting to shorten games. We have the three spots in the rotation that are pretty much solidified. And then with those other two spots, it gives us the ability to mix and match. I think we proved over the last six, seven weeks of last year that deployment-wise, if we're able to do that, we're gonna be in a pretty good spot.”

The addition of Chapman should help, too. 

The 35-year-old appeared in 61 games last season between Kansas City and Texas. He posted a 3.09 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP with 103 strikeouts and 36 walks in 58 1/3 innings. His strikeout total was his highest since 2015. 

“I think anytime you add a guy like [Chapman] it's gonna be a good thing,” Bednar said Wednesday. “With the group that we had -- Holderman, Carmen, Borucki, the list goes on, it's really impressive. I’m really looking forward to watching those guys work.” 

On the first day of pitchers and catchers, Bednar admitted there was an added sense of confidence that was felt while walking around the clubhouse. That feeling stemmed from a collective desire and expectation to win.

With the holdovers and additions that were made to help bolster the bullpen, he hopes their success can help the entire team succeed in 2024. 

“We're ready for it,” he said. “We're ready to throw up some zeroes and win some ball games.”