The Pittsburgh Pirates opened their offseason predicated on the premise that they had a solid foundation with their starting pitching, one that was deep enough to allow them to address their offensive inefficiencies.
With a rotation anchored by 2025 National League Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and featuring a former All-Star in Mitch Keller and a top-100 prospect in Bubba Chandler, the Pirates had the luxury of dealing two starters in trades that brought back the bats they needed.
The Pirates sent Johan Oviedo to the Boston Red Sox for outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia and a pitching prospect and Mike Burrows to the Houston Astros in a three-team trade that resulted in a return of two-time All-Star second baseman Brandon Lowe, speedy outfielder Jake Mangum and lefty reliever Mason Montgomery.
With a dominant ace in Skenes and a top 10 major league ranking in both ERA (3.71, sixth) and WHIP (1.19, tied for sixth), the success of the Pirates’ starters helped convince slugger Ryan O’Hearn to sign a two-year, $29 million free-agent contract.
“I want to be part of a team that’s going to win, and to win you got to pitch,” O’Hearn said at his introductory news conference last month. “That’s one thing I’ve learned in my career. It’s not fun being on defense three hours a night. To be a winning team you have to pitch. You have to have a starting rotation. You have to have great bullpen guys. On that side of the ball you got to be good. That’s one thing that really stood out to me about this team. Obviously, Paul Skenes is a generational talent. In addition to him there’s other young guys that have great stuff that are coming into their own. That was attractive for me, to be on a team that could pitch.”
The 23-year-old Skenes (10-10) led the majors with a 1.97 ERA, set a franchise record for strikeouts by a right-hander with 216 and became the first starting pitcher to win the Cy Young with a record of .500 or worse. He made 20 quality starts in 32 outings, and opponents batted .199 against the 6-foot-6, 260-pound power pitcher.
Keller (6-15) provided 17 quality starts in 32 outings, recording 150 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .249 batting average but suffered from a lack of run support. Chandler was 2-1 with a 5.12 ERA inflated by a battering from the Milwaukee Brewers in his starting debut but posted an 0.98 WHIP and dazzled with 22 strikeouts against three walks over 19 1/3 innings in four starts.
Now, the big question for the Pirates is the matter of which pitchers will fill out the final two spots in the rotation while Jared Jones recovers from InternalBrace surgery on his right elbow.
The top two internal candidates are a pair of right-handers who split time between starting and relieving last season but displayed their ability against the best on back-to-back nights against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Where Carmen Mlodzinski opened the season in the starting rotation before being demoted to the minors and returning to the bullpen, Braxton Ashcraft started the season in the minors and made his major league debut as a reliever before moving into starting role.
Mlodzinski and Ashcraft helped the Pirates sweep the two-time defending World Series champions in early September, as both delivered a dominant first inning then navigated their way through a challenging second that involved high pitch counts and loaded bases.
Mlodzinski, who has a seven-pitch repertoire, retired MVPs Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in order on 12 pitches in a 9-7 win on Sept. 2.
“There’s confidence from getting any big-league hitter out — anybody in this league can damage you,” Mlodzinski told TribLive, “but knowing that those guys are elite, top-of-the-game players and getting them out quickly, there’s confidence you take away from it.”
What works against Mlodzinski is that he performed better out of the bullpen. Where he was 1-4 with a 4.99 ERA and a .293 batting average against in 12 starts, the 26-year-old righty was 4-4 with a 2.15 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and .235 BAA in 22 relief appearances.
“I just feel like he answers the call with whatever role they put him in,” Pirates catcher Henry Davis said. “The biggest thing is really sticking to his strengths. He’s a guy that prepares as well as anybody and really wants it. Honestly, to have so many pitches to match hitter weaknesses was a big goal of his to prove he could start. What makes him able to start is he throws strikes, throws the ball over the plate, he’s got premium velocity and can land his off-speed for strikes and get to two-strike zones when he needs to. Keeping it as simple as that would be indicative of future success and what he got back to and really simplifying the arsenal has really helped a lot.”
The opposite is true of Ashcraft, a 6-5 righty with a four-seam fastball that averages 96.8 mph. Ashcraft had a 3.28 ERA, 1.35 WHP and .250 batting average against in 18 appearances out of the bullpen but a 2.16 ERA, 1.14 WHP and .226 BAA with 35 strikeouts against 10 walks in eight starts.
Against the Dodgers, Ashcraft got through the first inning on 11 pitches but followed with a 37-pitch second that saw the first three batters reach base, two by drawing full-count walks. Ashcraft responded by getting successive strikeouts then a fly out to prevent any runs from scoring.
Despite being on a short leash at times last season, Ashcraft made his intentions clear last month that he wants to be in the rotation.
“I think that anybody that comes into the big leagues that’s been a starter their whole life, you always want to have the ball in the first inning,” Ashcraft said at PiratesFest. “In our industry, that’s where guys get paid the most on our side of the ball. It’s the most challenging. I don’t think any of us would be here if we don’t like challenges.
“It was really cool to be able to transition into the bullpen and feel the different pressures that come with that and learn how to pitch differently. I think, ultimately, that made me a better starter, it will make me a better starter, having to pitch in those high-leverage situations, having to mix my stuff than I otherwise would. Those pitches, there’s a lot more pressure, there’s a lot more effort, there’s a lot more intent that goes into those pitches late in the game, in those situations where you don’t have as much time to make up ground. Every pitch means a little bit more in the back end of games.”
There’s a good possibility that Ashcraft and Mlodzinski will be battling for the same spot in the rotation, given general manager Ben Cherington’s preference to add a veteran.
Cherington has noted how lefties have fared well at PNC Park because of the cavernous outfield in left-center. He has signed a free agent left-hander each year: Derek Holland, Tyler Anderson, Jose Quintana, Rich Hill, Martin Perez and Andrew Heaney, and would like to do the same this season.
That doesn’t mean Cherington is locked into adding a lefty. Among the available free agent starting pitchers are righties Chris Bassitt, Walker Buehler, Zac Gallen, Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell, Nick Martinez, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander.
“We know at PNC, in particular, there is some additional value in left-handedness on the pitching staff,” Cherington said. “Paul Skenes does not throw left-handed, and we’re very happy with Paul Skenes so you don’t have to be left-handed. If you’re good enough, it doesn’t matter. But we’ve seen the advantage of having some left-handed pitching on the team and we’re pursuing that and we’ll see where it lands.”