Examining The Pittsburgh Pirates Bullpen Options For 2019

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ST. LOUIS, MO – SEPTEMBER 11: Nick Burdi #57 of the Pittsburgh Pirates makes his MLB debut pitching against the St. Louis Cardinals in the eighth inning at Busch Stadium on September 11, 2018 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

A potential wild card

Finally, there is young righty Nick Burdi. The Pirates selected Burdi, who at the time was recovering from Tommy John Surgery, in the minor league edition of the Rule 5 Draft at the 2017 Winter Meetings. Burdi spent most of last season rehabbing in the minor leagues, before making a pair of appearances out of the Pirate bullpen in September.

Burdi is a former top prospect of the Minnesota Twins and he possesses excellent stuff. With a plus fastball and a good slider, Burdi has the pure stuff needed to be a good MLB reliever. He just needs the health that will allow him to showcase this.

The Pirates are intrigued by Burdi’s stuff. They would love to give him an opportunity to show it at the MLB level. But he needs to stay healthy and earn that spot in Spring Training.

Next. Bucs Sign Melky Cabrera. dark

Due to being a Rule 5 Draft selection, Burdi must be returned to the Twins if he does not make the Pirate roster out of Spring Training and then spend the first 60 days of the season on the 25-man roster. If he does not make the roster the Bucs could always look to work out a trade with the Twins to keep Burdi around, and then send him to Triple-A to pitch out of the Indy bullpen. In my opinion, that is what will happen if Burdi does not head north with the team on March 28th.

If I were a betting man, this would be my projected Opening Day bullpen right now:
Felipe Vazquez
Keone Kela
Kyle Crick
Richard Rodriguez
Francisco Liriano
Nick Burdi
Nick Kingham