Pittsburgh Pirates: How to Improve the Pitching Staff in 2022

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff was nothing great in 2021, so what can be done to improve it in 2022?

The Pittsburgh Pirates pitching has been pretty poor this season. As a staff, they entered play on Monday with a 5.05 ERA, 4.72 FIP, and 1.42 WHIP. Monday afternoon these numbers only got worse as they allowed 13 runs in a loss against the Cincinnati Reds.

Both their ERA and WHIP are the third-worst in baseball and their WHIP ranks 6th to last. Overall, nothing to write home about, to say the least. The team needs to show at least some improvement, and multiple steps can be taken in order to improve the staff.

The first is the further development and promotion of top prospects. The first major prospect we should see in 2022 is Miguel Yajure. Had it not been for an injury that kept him out for a good chunk of 2021, he probably would have taken over a regular role with the Pittsburgh Pirates this season. Regardless, he has four offerings that project as average or better, along with plus command. He flashed some pretty promising stuff in his two starts this year.

The next top prospect that should get a decent look at the Major League level is Roansy Contreras. Contreras, along with Yajure, came over in the Jameson Taillon trade. After a strong showing at Double-A (albeit a limited one because of an injury), Contreras was promoted to Triple-A at the end of the season while continuing to show some strong offerings. So long as he’s healthy and performing well, he may only spend the first month, maybe two months at the very most, of the season at Indianapolis.

Omar Cruz is another guy who should get a chance in the major leagues in 2022. He pitched solidly at High-A Greensboro, and then Double-A Altoona. The southpaw will start 2022 at Triple-A. So like with Contreras, barring an injury or massive downturn in performance, Cruz will get a chance in the majors. He’ll also be in his age-23 season, a reasonable age to get a decent look in the major leagues.

Last but certainly not least is Carmen Mlodzinski. The right-hander was the Pirates’ competitive balance pick in 2020. He was the 31st overall pick and had a good year down at High-A Greensboro. Now granted, he may not get a look in the major leagues as quickly as Yajure, Contreras, or Cruz. But it’s absolutely possible that he at least ends the year on the major league team. He’ll also be in his age-23 season and should be a fast riser. He’ll probably start the season out at Double-A, so getting his debut in around late August isn’t impossible.

So that’s a few guys that the Pirates should see in the major leagues next season. In all likelihood, Yajure, Contreras, and Cruz will get decent looks while Mlodznski will be more of a late-season call-up. However, there are still some other precautions I would take.

That’s a ton of young players with not much experience. The lack of experience is even more apparent when you also consider that Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker, Max Kranick, Wil Crowe, Bryse Wilson, and Dillon Peters may also be in the mix. Among the Pirates’ starting pitchers that are currently projected to be part of the 40-man roster going into 2022, only Steven Brault has more than 200 career innings under their belt. The Pittsburgh Pirates should bring in one, maybe two veterans to help bridge the gap for the younger arms and provide innings. Essentially, fill the role that Tyler Anderson filled and Trevor Cahill was supposed to fill.

Luckily, I believe the Pittsburgh Pirates will find better options than Cahill this upcoming off-season. If they really were interested in doing so, they could bring back Tyler Anderson for next season. But other veterans such as Brett Anderson, Alex Wood, Kwang-Hyun Kim, Michael Pineda, and Johnny Cueto represent a handful of very solid veterans who could slot in and provide some quality innings.

Maybe the Pittsburgh Pirates aim a bit higher and target someone like Steven Matz, Jon Gray, or Alex Cobb given that all three have had solid seasons. All-in-all, they should sign at least one veteran pitcher to help secure a young rotation.

I could also see them taking a similar approach to fortify the bullpen. Right now, the only players guaranteed spots on the Pirate 2022 bullpen are David Bednar and Chris Stratton. They do have a few young guys such as Nick Mears, Yerry De Los Santos, Blake Cederlind, and Blake Weiman on hand, along with a few other guys who could make their debut in the pen such as Michael Burrows, Jose Soriano, or Ricky DeVito. But like with the rotation, it’s mostly full of young, and inexperienced arms.

Bringing in one quality reliever should be another priority. The market will be chock full of potential options. Yusmeiro Petit, Adam Ottavino, Brad Boxberger, Chris Martin, Steve Cishek, Tyler Clippard, Sergio Romo, Hector Neris, and Corey Knebel are just a few of the many solid right-handed bullpen options. Among left-handers, Brooks Raley, Jose Alvarez, and former Pirates Tony Watson and Justin Wilson are all good potential choices. They could also bring back Chasen Shreeve.

Overall, as a whole, there’s one last, indirect way that the Pittsburgh Pirates could help improve the pitching staff. That’s improving the defense. They’ll get some help in the outfield with Travis Swaggerty. Swaggerty is considered a gold glove-level outfielder, but don’t discount his bat. He had a solid start to 2021 (.772 OPS, .343 wOBA, 108 wRC+, .220 ISO, though remember it was just 48 PAs), showing some pop and on-base skills, but also getting unlucky in the process. Had it not been for a shoulder injury, he would have been in the majors already. With Gregory Polanco now out of the picture, the Pirates have an opportunity to greatly improve the outfield defense over the course of a full season.

But the most direct way to indirectly affect the pitchers is through catching. More specifically, the team’s second catcher. Now don’t take this as an absolute must. But it’s one way that the Pirates can avoid having a poor defender behind the plate once or twice every week, helping a pitcher’s confidence in the process. That’s something that should be focused on when you have a ton of young pitching talent. While Jacob Stallings has taken up the bulk of playing time behind the plate, providing outstanding glove work, Michael Perez, who served the role as bench catcher this year, provided -3 DRS and -1.3 framing runs in just 461.1 innings.

Now there are not too many good defensive catchers currently on the free agent market that are willing to play second fiddle to Stallings. Sandy Leon is about the only backup catcher on the market with a plus glove. But finding a good defender behind the dish won’t be too hard. The Cleveland Indians will likely look to shed Austin Hedges’s contract, whether that’s through non-tender, DFA, salary-dump-like trade, or outright release. Hedges, while not a good hitter by any means (he wouldn’t be an upgrade over Perez when it comes to hitting), provides some of the best defense in the game when it comes to receiving.

The Blue Jays may look to trade someone like former Pirates’ first-round pick Reese McGuire, a plus defender, to make room for Gabriel Moreno and Alejandro Kirk. McGuire would represent both an offensive and defensive upgrade over Perez. Similarly to McGuire, the Jays may also look to move Danny Jansen, though the asking price for him may be a bit higher.

Overall, there are many ways that the Pittsburgh Pirates can improve the pitching staff going into 2022 without outside additions. I’m still a firm believer that we’ll see massive amounts of improvement next season. I’ve already talked about some of the highly talented prospects who should make an appearance next season today, but there are so many more that could get at least a glance at the Majors in 2022.

But the Pittsburgh Pirates can’t solely rely on just their young pitching and young pitching alone. Sure, some will come up and do great. But some may get off to a slow start, or just not pitch a whole lot in the majors in 2022 at all. Bringing in one or two veterans to the starting staff, along with one or two veterans to the bullpen would help stabilize the overall staff and improve it by being able to give the team solid innings and a chance to win many games.