Pittsburgh Pirates: David Bednar Continuing to Impress

As he continues to push for a spot in the Opening Day bullpen, David Bednar is continuing to impress with the Pittsburgh Pirates this spring

When the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres outfielder Hudson Head and catcher Endy Rodriguez were the headliners of the trade. Right-handed reliever David Bednar, who is a Pittsburgh native, was also involved in the trade.

Bednar entered Spring Training looking to pitch his way into the Opening Day bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates. While Bednar may have entered the spring on the outside looking in, he has nothing but impress this spring and appears to be well on his way to pitching his way into the Opening Day bullpen.

In Wednesday night’s loss against the New York Yankees Bednar pitched a scoreless inning for the Pittsburgh Pirates. While he allowed two hits in the inning, he also struck out a pair on his way to stranding both base runners.

Bednar has now appeard in four games this spring for the Pirates, logging 4.0 innings of work in these four outings. In those 4.0 innings of work Bednar has yet to allow a run, has walked just one batter and has allowed just the two singles he surrendered Wednesday night.

Most impressively, Bednar has struck out seven batters in his 4.0 innings of work. Bednar has faced just 15 batters this spring which gives him a healthy 46.7% strikeout rate. Bednar throws a power fastball that has reached the upper 90s this spring. He pairs it with mid-70s curveball and a splitter that gives hitters fits. As Noah discussed last week, Bednar has closer potential.

Few players have turned more heads thus far this spring with the Pirates than Bednar. While he may have entered the spring on the outside looking in it appears he is pitching his way into an Opening Day spot in the bullpen, and Bednar should be a fixture in the bullpen for the long-term.