Pittsburgh Pirates: Examining Potential 2023 Bullpen Arms

Nick Mears

2023 Opening Day Age: 26

Nick Mears might rank as the team’s best relief prospect, coming in as the team’s 14th best prospect, but he isn’t as well known as Cederlind is. Mears was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017 as an undrafted free agent, and has rocketed through their farm system.

In his first full professional season in 2019, Mears played at Low-A, High-A and Double-A. In total, he had a 3.28 ERA, 2.94 FIP and 1.05 WHIP across 46.2 innings of work. Mears struck out a ton of batters, racking up an eye popping 35.9% strikeout rate. While he did have a 9.4% walk rate, and 1.0 HR/9, two of the five home runs he gave up came in an 11.2 inning stint at Low-A ball, and his walk rate is pretty solid given his strikeout rate.

Mears works with two, above average pitches. His first is a 70 current and future grade fastball. Mears can throw this pitch at a multitude of different speeds, with it being able to sit in the 93-98 MPH range, and top out in the triple digits. Not only can he throw it with some heat, but he can throw it with 2400 RPM. The average fastball RPM in 2019 was in the low-2000’s, and he would sit in the high-80th percentile in baseball in 2019. His curveball, while not as good as his fastball, still has some solid spin. It has a future 55 grade, and averages out with 2450 RPM.