The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen had some pleasant surprises in 2025, which led to a quick turnaround and a better outlook going into this season than last.
Late in 2024, the backend of the bullpen (Holderman
and Bednar) completely collapsed, and it was pretty bad to start in 2025. While Holderman was even more of a disaster than we could have imagined this season, it was more unbelievable what a two-week stint in Triple-A Indianapolis did for David Bednar, who went back to being one of the best closers in the league after hitters were teeing off on his four-seam fastball for most of 2024 and the very beginning of ‘25.
In June, the Pirates had their best bullpen ERA in a single month since July of 2017. With Dennis Santana becoming an elite set-up man behind Bednar, the Pirates seemed like they were forming a deeper bullpen with the sudden emergence of Pitt’s Issac Mattson and the return of Dauri Moreta after being out all of 2024.
But in typical Pittsburgh Pirates fashion, David Bednar goes to a contender at the trade deadline, and with how high the reliever market was, the return Ben Cherington received from Brian Cashman and the New York Yankees was simply underwhelming and not worth it. Cherington has a bad track record of trades with Cashman in his Pittsburgh Pirates tenure, with the returns for Jameson Taillon and Clay Holmes (who became an All-Star closer in the Bronx) being basically nothing of significance.
With no Bednar, the Pirates add another item to their long shopping list this offseason with only change to spare. Cherington will be looking for a cheaper, probably older reliever with a track record of closing out games and serving as a setup man. Whoever this is will probably not be able to fill Bednar’s void, which puts the weight on Dennis Santana’s right arm.
When the Pirates picked up Santana in 2023, he seemed to be well on his way to being just another journeyman reliever, but he has turned his career around entirely. Is what he’s doing sustainable enough to be the closer in 2025, or is it more of a fluke? It better not be a fluke, or the loss of Bednar will loom much larger.
The Pirates were around the top of the league in using relievers for two or more innings, primarily due to the amount of young starting pitching depth they have. A big question in Spring Training will be who makes the rotation, and who serves in a bulk role to start the season. With how highly touted Bubba Chandler is, you’d think he’ll be an essential part of the rotation. But it will be interesting to see where Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows end up by Opening Day, with Hunter Barco also in the mix to make the roster.
A bigger question will be how Carmen Mlodzinski is handled. He wanted to be a starter, and the Pirates let him be one, which turned out to be a disaster. We have seen how dominant he can be as a setup man and as a two or three-inning bulk reliever. Hopefully, Mlodzinski and the Pirates can finally realize what his best role is to help the team, or else he’s just another talent being wasted here.
The Pirates will definitely be on the lookout to add more left-handed relievers, as Evan Sisk, who has shown promise after being acquired from the Kansas City Royals at the trade deadline for Bailey Falter, is the only left-handed reliever currently on the 40-man roster.
If Justin Lawrence can be anything close to what he was with the Pirates in 17 games last year after being picked up off waivers from the Colorado Rockies last spring, that could be huge for middle-inning relief. Lawrence dominated in April and went on the IL for most of the season with an elbow injury and returned in the middle of September, finishing with a 0.51 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, and 23 strikeouts.
Chase Shugart, who was acquired last offseason from the Boston Red Sox, was an under-the-radar arm who put together decent numbers in his first season as a big leaguer in 2025 despite two separate IL stints. He showed the ability to pitch more than one inning when needed, giving the Pirates 45 innings in 35 games while posting a 3.40 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP.
To conclude, we can only hope that Colin Holderman gets himself figured out this offseason. We know he has the stuff to be a high-end reliever; he’s proven it before, but he looked beyond lost last season.
In a similar situation is Kyle Nicolas, who, going into 2025, looked like a big part of the Pirates’ bullpen’s future, only to surprisingly not make the Opening Day roster and be a complete catastrophe in AAA. Nicolas has a young, vibrant arm that deserves one more serious look in 2026 after finishing last year strong with the big league club in August and September.
