If Ryan Borucki has learned anything in baseball, it’s that there are no guarantees. Maybe his greatest lesson came when he proved that he didn’t need one to make the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Opening Day roster.
After following the best season of his major league career with the worst, the left-handed reliever arrived at Pirate City as a nonroster invitee to spring training and accepted that he was a long shot. Both comfortable and confident, Borucki pitched without any worry.
“I didn’t really put that pressure on myself to do anything more than I needed to do,” Borucki said. “I think that is what made it easy. It was like I had nothing to lose, only stuff to gain. I just went out there and did my thing without any thoughts. That’s the toughest part, battling your own demons: ‘Am I going to make the team?’ You play GM with yourself. I didn’t really care.”
Borucki has been one of the Pirates’ most reliable relievers this season, thriving in high-leverage situations as the back end of the bullpen dealt with two-time All-Star closer David Bednar being demoted to the minors and setup man Colin Holderman on the 15-day injured list.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pounder has a 0.84 WHIP, five holds and hasn’t allowed an earned run in 10 of his 12 appearances. Only the New York Yankees scored on Borucki, tagging him for one earned run on two hits April 5 and three earned runs on three hits and a walk in two-thirds of an inning the next day.
The metrics back up Borucki’s numbers, especially when it comes to creating soft contact. Per Statcast, his 75% ground ball rate is the best in MLB, he ranks in the 97th percentile in expected ERA (1.84) and average exit velocity (83.7 mph) and in the 84th percentile in hard-hit rate (32.1%).
Borucki has evolved as a pitcher since joining the Pirates, lowering his slider usage by almost 15%, slightly increasing his sinker and sweeper and replacing his changeup with a splitter. And his role has gone from multi-inning reliever to one who has made all but two of his appearances in the seventh inning or later this season.
“For me, high-leverage or low-leverage, whatever they need,” Borucki said. “If they need me to come in the fourth or fifth inning or if they need me to come in the seventh or eighth, I’ll do it. I’ve never been a guy where I need to be only doing leverage. My whole career, I’ve checked my ego at the door. I don’t really care. When my name gets called, it’s going to happen.”
Borucki has reason to be humble, as injuries have repeatedly caused him setbacks. He was sidelined by a blister on his left middle finger with the Toronto Blue Jays and a left flexor strain with the Seattle Mariners in 2022. When he was designated for assignment two years ago this week by the Chicago Cubs, Borucki used it as a motivator to turn his career around. Signed to a minor league contract, Borucki didn’t make the team out of big league camp but was activated on April 30, 2023. He never got a chance to pitch for the Cubs, so he agreed to a minor league deal with the Pirates and joined their Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis.
“One big one was just getting over my front side and trying be more north-south than east-west,” Borucki said. “My biggest problem is sometimes I get too rotational and stuff just flattens out. That was the first thing (the Pirates) told me — and it was instant. Once I felt it, it just clicked and kept compounding with good outing after good outing. I just had a lot of confidence and rode that the rest of the year.”
Borucki was the Pirates’ most effective reliever, going 4-0 with career lows in ERA (2.45) and WHIP (0.74) in 40 1/3 innings over 38 appearances, posting a career-best 8.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He was expected to have a big role in the bullpen last season but went on the injured list April 7 with left triceps inflammation, an injury that kept him from pitching for the Pirates until September.
“Last year was definitely frustrating because I came off a great year,” Borucki said. “It was the first time in a couple years where I felt like I was healthy, had a sound delivery and I was able to show what I’m able to do — because I’ve had a lot of injuries that have stopped me. I was rattled that it took longer than we thought it would.”
After five months off, Borucki tried to make up for lost time. Instead, he posted a 7.36 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 11 innings over 14 appearances, then elected free agency in the offseason. He felt like he’d found a home with the Pirates, so he signed another minor league deal in January.
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“This whole offseason, all I did was focus on being healthy, gaining a little bit of weight just to increase durability — the things that would keep me on the field,” Borucki said. “If I stay healthy, my stuff is good enough to be in the big leagues, so I just trusted that. When I came to camp, I felt really, really good coming in. My arm felt great.”
Despite left-handed competition in the bullpen, as Joey Wentz returned and Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza were signed to free-agent deals, Borucki had a strong spring. He went 2-0 with an 0.93 ERA, a .143 batting average-against and 14 strikeouts against five walks in 10 appearances to make the 26-man active roster.
“When I got the news that I did make it, it was a pretty cool feeling,” Borucki said. “This is the second time I’ve been NRI. The first time I made it to the last day of camp with the Cubs and didn’t make the team. It was definitely a proud moment, just to tell myself with all the hard work I was able to make the team out of camp.”