The Pittsburgh Pirates knew the Tampa Bay Rays had a left-handed reliever with a reputation for his impressive velocity but didn’t know much more about him.
After throwing 15 of his 16 pitches for strikes — touching triple digits on a handful, including a 102.2 four-seamer against Joey Bart — the Pirates quickly learned what Mason Montgomery was all about eight months before acquiring him as part of their biggest offseason move.
“This guy comes in and we’re all just like, ‘I don’t know who this is, but heard he throws hard,’” Pirates reliever Justin Lawrence said of Montgomery, whose fastball velocity averaged 98.7 mph last season, per Statcast. “And first pitch was like (100.2) and we’re like, ‘Ohhh, OK.’ So, seeing that we got that guy, I’m just like, it’s another weapon in the bullpen that is already full of weapons.”
The Pirates added a promising pitcher in Montgomery and a two-time All-Star in Gregory Soto, who signed a one-year, $7.75 million free-agent contract in December, to a bullpen that promises to have fierce competition for high-leverage roles this season.
Two-time All-Star David Bednar was traded to the New York Yankees last July, offering Dennis Santana a chance to serve as the closer for the final two months of the season. Santana posted a 2.18 ERA and 0.87 WHIP, recording 16 saves in 70 appearances.
“Santana’s been incredible,” Lawrence said. “I think he has very quietly been a top-five reliever in baseball the last year and a half. Definitely does not get talked about enough.”
Yet Santana isn’t guaranteed to pitch the ninth inning, as the Pirates could choose to use a closer-by-committee approach. Soto, whose fastball sits at 96.9, averaged 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings last season split between the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets. The 30-year-old accounted for 48 saves for the Detroit Tigers in 2021-22, earning a pair of All-Star selections, and could challenge for the closer role.
“They haven’t told me exactly what role I’m going to be in,” Soto said through interpreter Stephen Morales in December. “They talked to my agent already, and it looks like it’s going to be in the back end of the bullpen. It really doesn’t matter to me. That’s what I know to do, back end of the bullpen. Whatever role they need me to, I’ll be ready, and I’ll be more than happy to help the rest of the bullpen to win some games. They haven’t told me, but I’m more than happy to do any role in the back end of the bullpen.”
Another big question is who will serve as the setup man, especially after the Pirates parted ways with Colin Holderman. Where Montgomery and Soto give them a pair of flamethrowing lefties opposite Lawrence and Santana in leverage situations, the Pirates also return righties Isaac Mattson and Kyle Nicolas and lefties Hunter Barco and Evan Sisk.
Mattson recorded 45 strikeouts in 44 appearances by relying on a disappearing fastball that proved to be one of the most dangerous pitches out of the bullpen, given that opponents batted .191 against the four-seamer. Nicolas also has elite fastball velocity (97.6 mph) and extension and proved he could handle middle relief and leverage roles.
“It’s always exciting adding new guys to the bullpen, especially two lefties who throw 100. That’s pretty sick,” Nicolas said. “I’m just trying to play my part. I know we have a lot of good pitchers on the team; especially in the bullpen, there’s only so many spots. Things will work themselves out. I’m just excited to get into spring training with the guys and see what everybody’s got. It’s going to be fun.”
Where the Pirates have a new pitching coach after hiring Bill Murphy and assistant Thomas Whitsett from the Houston Astros, they return a stabilizing force in bullpen coach Miguel Perez.
It appears the Pirates’ bullpen will have a different sense of swagger, whether Soto is pitching the ninth inning or not.
“Definitely, my mentality and my attitude when I go out late in the game helps me a lot. When it comes to go out there and be sure, make sure that no runs will cross the plate, that’s the mentality at the back end of the bullpen,” Soto said. “But I’ve been working on when I go back-to-back innings, I’ve been working on having the same mentality when I go out there like I did the prior inning. But, yeah, that’s the mentality: It’s to go out there and make sure that nobody crosses home plate, no matter the situation.”