Pittsburgh Pirates: Veteran Reliever To Target In Free Agency

As the Pittsburgh Pirates search for bullpen help this offseason, this veteran right-handed pitcher could be one they target in free agency

While the 2021 season figures to be another year of rebuilding for the Pittsburgh Pirates, there are still some moves they could make in free agency. General manager Ben Cherington has expressed interest in adding both outfield and bullpen help this offseason.

Now, obviously, this help could come via the trade market or free agency. If the Pittsburgh Pirates decide to address their need for bullpen help via free agency there are a few available pitchers that could make sense. Earlier this week we took a look at why Steve Cishek could be a free agent target for the Pirates. Another reliever the team could target in free agency is veteran righty Matt Andriese.

Andriese logged 32 innings in 16 games with the Los Angeles Angels in 2020. He posted a 4.50 ERA, 4.29 FIP, 4.34 DRA, 8.7% walk rate, and a healthy 26.2% strikeout rate. His biggest issue was the home run ball as he allowed five, which comes out to a rate of 1.41 HR/9.

In his MLB career Andriese has pitched in 460.2 innings across 183 games, with 50 of them being starts. While he has starting experience, he has been primarily a reliever since the 2018 season that he spent split between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay Rays.

Lifetime, Andriese owns a 4.57 ERA and a 4.23 FIP. His career home run rate is 1.35 HR/9, and he’s walked 6.8% of batters faced while striking out 21.6%.

A big reason Andriese could be enticing to the Pittsburgh Pirates is his curveball. During the 2020 season new pitching coach Oscar Marin made it clear he values his pitchers ability to throw a plus curveball.

While he threw his curveball just 11.8% of the time in 2020, opposing batters slugged just .091 against the pitch to go with a 20.0% whiff rate. The pitch ranked in the 72nd percentile of baseball in spin rate in 2020.

Andriese could also serve multiple roles out of the bullpen for the Pirates. He could be a one inning reliever for the Bucs, be a swing man, pitch multiple innings, or do a little bit of all of this.