Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 Breakout Candidate: Luis Oviedo

During the 2021 season, Rule 5 Draft pick Luis Ovideo is a breakout candidate out of the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates

This past December the Pittsburgh Pirates had the top pick in MLB’s Rule 5 Draft. With this pick the Pittsburgh Pirates selected right-handed pitcher Jore Soriano, who will miss all of 2021 due to Tommy John surgery.

Later in the Rule 5 Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates acquired right-handed pitcher Luis Oviedo from the New York Mets. The Mets selected Oviedo from the Cleveland Indians. Due to this, Oviedo must spend the entire 2021 season on the Pirates’ active roster or else they may have to return him to the Indians.

Barring a Spring Training disaster, Oviedo will start the 2021 season as a member of the bullpen for the Pirates. With his plus stuff, Oviedo will be a breakout candidate for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2021.

Oviedo last pitched in 2019 with the High-A Lake County Captains. With the Captains, Oviedo posted a 5.38 ERA and a 4.41 FIP in 87 innings pitched. These 87 innings came in 19 games, all of which were starts.

While Oviedo walked 10.5% of batters faced and struck out just 18.9%, he was better than his numbers indicated. FanGraphs gives his fastball a future value of 50, curveball a FV of 50 and his slider and change up a FV of 45.

When the 2021 season begins, Oviedo will almost assuredly be in the Pirate bullpen. He will likely start the season pitching in middle relief, with the opportunity to pitch his way into a high leverage role. In a high leverage role, Oviedo could be a pitcher with an above average ceiling with the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Oviedo has the stuff to become a high leveraeg situation pitcher for the Pitates. To begin the 2021 season, Richard Rodriguez, Chris Stratton, Blaek Cederlind, and Edgar Santana will likely be the high leverage pitchers for the Pirates, but Oviedo can pitch himself into this type of role.

All of this makes Oviedo a brekaout player for 2021. By the end of the 2021 season, Oviedo could be one of the top pitchers in the Pirate bullpen. He has the stuff needed to be a shutdown reliever, making him a 2021 brekaout candidate.