Pittsburgh Pirates: Revisiting the Joe Musgrove Trade

David Bednar turns in a historically good rookie season

The 2021 season was the rookie season for Bednar. In his first full MLB season Bednar had one of the best rookie seasons in Pirate history for relief pitchers, and all signs point toward him being a huge part of the Pirate bullpen moving forward.

Bednar pitched 60.2 innings in 61 games pitched with the Pittsburgh Pirates this past season. He posted a 2.23 ERA, 2.69 FIP and a strong home run rate of 0.74 HR/9. Bednar walked just 8.0% of batters faced while he struck out a very strong 32.5% of batters faced.

During the month of September Bednar spent time on the injured list. This IL stint, however, was probably in large part to help watch his workload and limit the amount of innings/work put on his arm in a lost season.

Moving forward Bednar looks like a potential All-Star level reliever for the Pittsburgh Pirates. It would not be a surprise to see the Pittsburgh native cement himself as the go to man in high-leverage situations in 2022 and beyond.

The day PNC Park is rocking to Bednar taking the field while Renegade blares from the PNC Park loud speakers in an important late season game and postseason games will be a lot of fun.

Catcher Endy Rodriguez

The 21-year-old Rodriguez had a strong season with the Low-A Bradenton Marauders in 2021. Rodriguez played in 98 games and logged 434 plate appearances. These were both new career highs for Rodriguez.

In his 434 PAs Rodriguez hit for a .294/.380/.512 slash line to go with a 140 wRC+. Rodriguez hit 15 home runs and collected extra base hits at a 10.6% rate. The switch hitter walked in a strong 11.5% of his trips to the plate, while he struck out just 17.6% of the time.

While catcher remained the primary position for Rodriguez he did bounce around the diamond in 2021. Rodriguez made 54 appearances at catcher, 18 at first base and 4 in left field. He also made starts as the designated hitter for the Marauders.

When the Pittsburgh Pirates drafted Henry Davis the odds of Rodriguez remaining the catcher of the future appeared to take a hit. That said, with the put hitting ability of Rodriguez he will have a future with the Pirates. Watching what Rodriguez can do offensively with Double-A Altoona in 2022 will be fun for Pirate fans to watch.

Outfielder Hudson Head

FanGraphs currently ranks Head as the 13th best prospect in the Pirate farm system. The left-handed hitting outfielder was the 84th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft and is still just 20-years-old.

In 434 PAs across 101 games played with Bradenton in 2021 Head had a very strange season. His .213/.362/.394 slash line was a strange one. This resulted in Head posting a 113 wRC+ for the Marauders.

For Head the on-base skills were there. He drew walks at a borderline elite 15.7% rate. However, he did strikeout at a concerning 31.6% rate. The strikeout rate should not come as a huge surprise as the biggest concern for Head has always been the swing-and-miss.

Hudson did improve his line drive rate in 2021, however, hitting line drives at a 22.1% rate. This was a 4% increase over his line drive rate from the 2019 season. His isolated slugging (ISO) also improved from .133 in 2019 to .181 in 2021.

It will be curious to see where Head starts the 2022 season. Logic would point toward him starting at High-A Greensboro after spending an entire season at Low-A. Head will need to improve his swing-and-miss rate in 2022 if he is going to continue to rank among the top prospects in the Pirate farm system.

Left-handed pitcher Omar Cruz

Cruz started the season with High-A Greensboro and made 7 starts. Following these 7 starts the lefty was promoted to Double-A Altoona where he made 14 more starts before his season came to an end.

Cruz posted a 3.45 ERA, 4.71 FIP, 1.26 HR/9, 11.9% walk rate and a 32.2% strikeout rate with the Grasshoppers. After being promoted to the Curve, Cruz posted a 3.444 ERA, 4.11 FIP, 0.76 HR/9, 7.3% walk rate and strikeout rate of 19.9%.

Outside of strikeout rate, all of Cruz’s numbers improved after being promoted the Double-A level. That said, any pitcher or team will sacrifice strikeout rate for a lower walk rate, home run rate, ERA and FIP following a promotion.

Neither starting the 2022 season back with Altoona nor starting the season with Triple-A Indianapolis would come as a surprise for Cruz. Either way a potential MLB debut, rather as a starter or a reliever, should not be ruled out for 2022.

The Pittsburgh Pirates did well

All in all, it appears the Pittsburgh Pirates did well in the Musgrove trade. Musgrove is set to hit free agency following the 2022 season and was not going to re-sign with the Pirates. The Padres failing to make the postseason despite being a preseason NL favorite should be a factor here as well.

The Pittsburgh Pirates traded a pitcher who was closing in on a free agency, during a time where the team was not going to compete, for a quartet of quality players. This includes a potential dominant All-Star reliever, a plus MLB hitter in Rodriguez and Head who could be a big building block.

In the long run the Musgrove trade could prove to be one of general manager Ben Cherington’s best. This is something that will not be able to truly be graded for a few years, but things look good for the Pirates right now.