The Pittsburgh Pirates already planned to prioritize starting pitching before workhorse Johan Oviedo required Tommy John surgery, and Ben Cherington vowed to add to the rotation through free agency and trades.
The Pirates general manager promised he had the resources needed this offseason “to get better and to compete and contend,” though he stressed that internal improvement was critical.
“I think we want to be really open-minded to how we can improve our starting pitching group between now and spring training,” Cherington said in October. “You want to walk into spring training feeling like you have 10. I don’t think I can tell you right now we have 10. I also think it’s within our reach between now and February to get to the point where we can say we have 10.”
With All-Star right-hander Mitch Keller the lone returning starter locked into the rotation, Cherington acquired a pair of veteran left-handers: Marco Gonzales via a trade with the Atlanta Braves and free agent Martin Perez through a one-year, $8 million contract.
But the Pirates enter spring training with three set starters in their rotation and more questions than answers about how they will deploy their pitching staff. After stressing his desire to add another starting pitcher, Cherington did an about face and signed seven-time All-Star reliever Aroldis Chapman to a one-year, $10.5 million contract.
Not only does Chapman present a left-handed complement to two-time All-Star closer David Bednar, but he could give manager Derek Shelton and pitching coach Oscar Marin the ability to tinker with a bullpen that is deep and versatile with lefties in Chapman, Ryan Borucki and Jose Hernandez and righties Bednar, Colin Holderman, Dauri Moreta, Carmen Mlodzinski and Colin Selby.
“Obviously, we feel really good about the guy at the end of the game, and if we can continue to build as much talent and depth in front of that guy, we think we can have a really good bullpen,” Cherington said. “Some of the pieces are there. Some of those guys have started to establish themselves.”
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The Pirates also have several candidates who haven’t quite established themselves as starters: right-handers Roansy Contreras (11 starts in 2023), Luis Ortiz (15) and Quinn Priester (eight). All three got extended auditions last summer, sometimes in non-traditional roles.
Contreras and Ortiz made electric debuts before struggling last season, and Priester followed a disastrous debut by leveling off. That all three saw their fastball velocity drop is concerning, especially with the increasing number of Tommy John surgeries in the system. Catcher Henry Davis said Priester has “essentially revamped how he wants to throw the baseball,” after a season in which Contreras did the same.
“I think all of three of them have a really good opportunity to help us,” Keller said. “It would be foolish of us to rule any of them out. I was in their shoes not too long ago. Struggled, but it just takes some time to feel comfortable. This game is so hard. Just to feel comfortable, it’s completely different. You have big events like this. It’s a totally different animal at the big league level. Just getting comfortable with it and letting them grow. Growing into who they are as pitchers, they have a lot of potential to be really cool. We’ve all seen it in spurts here and there. I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t do it again this year.”
The Pirates also will give a shot to lefty Bailey Falter, acquired from Philadelphia at the trade deadline. Falter made 14 starts last season, seven each with the Phillies and Pirates.
Then again, in August, Cherington hinted that using openers on a more frequent basis was a possibility the Pirates could explore, citing the success of the San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays.
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“When you have a traditional starting pitcher, you’re hoping that guy gets 18-20 outs — sometimes more than that, if a guy’s really on his game — and gives you a chance to win,” Cherington said. “On good teams — and the team we want to build here — more often than not we want to start the game with that kind of guy.
“Sometimes you have to get those outs in different ways. Even on good teams, there are parts of the season where you have to be able to do that well, sometimes regularly. Maybe not three or four days a week but regularly.”
Borucki, Mlodzinski, Kyle Nicolas and Selby, starters converted into relievers, could be candidates to serve as openers. That would take some pressure off Contreras, Falter, Ortiz and Priester to go through the lineup more than twice, setting up the back end of the bullpen.
And it would give a grace period for the development of right-hander Paul Skenes, the 2023 No. 1 overall pick, as well as fellow top-100 prospects Jared Jones and Bubba Chandler, both righties, and lefty Anthony Solometo. And the Pirates are counting on righties JT Brubaker and Mike Burrows returning from rehabilitation for Tommy John surgery after the All-Star break.
Perhaps Cherington is playing the waiting game, knowing that reinforcements could be at the ready by mid-summer.
Until then, he has to hope that Keller, who turns 28 the day before the home opener, can repeat his breakthrough season. Keller had a career year, going 13-9 with a 4.21 ERA, leading the Pirates in starts (32) and innings pitched (194 1/3) while setting a franchise record for strikeouts in a season by a right-hander (210).
The Pirates also are counting on bounce-back years by Gonzales and Perez, as potential upgrades over Rich Hill and Vince Velasquez.
A 2022 All-Star who won the World Series with the Texas Rangers last year, Perez went 10-4 with a 4.45 ERA but allowed 21 home runs in 35 appearances, including 20 starts, and ranked among baseball’s worst in whiff rate (17.2%) and strikeout percentage (15.3%).
Gonzales had a 5.22 ERA in 50 innings over 10 starts before his season was shortened by surgery to repair a nerve issue in his left forearm. Before that, he was a workhorse who made at least 25 starts in the previous four full seasons, including 34 in 2019 and 32 in 2022.
“First and foremost, knowing a little bit about Marco historically and through Oscar Marin who was around him in Seattle, he’s just an exceptional person, exceptional teammate, worker, professional, accountable, the kind of person and personality that we appreciate having in our clubhouse and having around younger pitchers and just around players in general,” Cherington said.
“He’s just a real pro. He’s been a good major league left-handed starting pitcher. He had a tough year last year. He was dealing with an injury, and as we were able to learn more about that injury and where he is in his recovery, we felt more confident in what he can do in 2024. Physically, he’s in a good spot in that he’s recovered from that and having a good offseason and that portends well for 2024. He also has a style of pitching that has worked well at PNC and in our division in the past.”
The wild card, of course, is Skenes. The 6-foot-6 ½, 250-pounder was dominant in leading LSU to the College World Series title last year, relying primarily on a four-seam fastball and sweeping slider. After signing for a record $9.2 million bonus, Skenes pitched only 6 2/3 innings in five starts across three levels in the minors while working to develop more pitches into his repertoire.
The expectation is that the sooner Skenes is ready, the better the Pirates’ pitching staff will be. Skenes was invited to spring training, which is customary for No. 1 picks, and Cherington said “it’s certainly possible” that Skenes could make his major league debut this summer.
“He’s going to tell us,” Cherington said on MLB Network’s Hot Stove in November. “Obviously, we don’t want to rush anything. We want him to have every opportunity to be the best version of himself for as long as possible in Pittsburgh.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.