Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo will make $850,000 in 2025 as a result of the first salary arbitration hearing of the year.
Oviedo, who sought a raise from $765,000 to $1.15 million, had his case heard Tuesday.
Per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, arbitrators ruled in favor of the Pirates, who counter-offered at $850,000.
The Pirates have won their arbitration hearing against Johan Oviedo, per source. Oviedo will earn $850,000 in 2025; he had filed for $1.15 million.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 29, 2025
Oviedo, who turns 27 on March 2, missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in February of 2024.
Prior to requiring surgery, Oviedo was a strong candidate to earn a rotation spot for the Pirates out of spring training.
In 2023, he’d shown flashes, going 9-14 with a 4.31 ERA, tying Mitch Keller for most starts (32), while striking out 158 in 177 2/3 innings.
Oviedo, who arrived in Pittsburgh in August of 2022 as part of the return package from St. Louis for Jose Quintana, quickly got to work as a starter with the Pirates.
Over seven starts in 2022, he went 2-2 with a 3.23 ERA.
While his overall health has yet to be formally determined, spring training will begin during the usual window of Tommy John recovery time (12-18 months) for the 6-foot-5 Havana, Cuba, native.
Should Oviedo be at full health, he’ll likely find himself in the midst of competition for a starter’s gig with the Pirates, who return Keller, Jared Jones, Paul Skenes and Bailey Falter from last year’s staff.
Another young hopeful looking to earn a spot in the rotation, as Jones did in 2024, is Bubba Chandler, the Pirates’ top prospect (No. 15 across baseball), per MLB Pipeline.
Prior to injury, Oviedo had exclusively been utilized as a starter with the Pirates, though 14 of his 72 career MLB appearances have been out of the bullpen, primarily in 2022 with the Cardinals.
It’s far too early to tell how Oviedo potentially can expect to be deployed in spring training and beyond, but a parallel might exist with Luis Ortiz, whom the Pirates traded away in the Spencer Horwitz deal in December.
Ortiz was a candidate for a rotation spot, didn’t get one out of spring and instead began last season as a reliever before the Pirates went on to use him in a hybrid role as the season progressed.