Pittsburgh Pirates: Two Non-Tendered Pitchers Worth Pursuing

Right-handed pitcher Robert Gsellman

Three players were non-tendered by the New York Mets on Tuesday. One of these three players was right-handed pitcher Robert Gsellman. With Gsellman now a free agent, he is a free agent who could help the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Gsellman is coming off a 2021 season that nearly ended in June due to a lat injury. While Gsellman was able to return for a few two outings in the final weekend of the season, his lat injury cost him over three months.

When healthy Gsellman posted a 3.77 ERA and a 429 FIP in 28.2 innings pitched last season. He walked 5.9% of batters faced, struck out 14.3%, induced ground balls at a 49.5% rate and allowed 3 home runs (0.94 HR/9).

In his career Gsellman has worked as both a starter and a reliever. He’s pitched in 176 games for the Mets with 34 of them being starts. However, since making 22 starts in 2017 he has only made 5 starts. 4 of those starts came in 2020 and the other came in 2021.

Gsellman haș pitched to the tune of a 4.59 ERA, 4.30 FIP, 8.0% walk rate, 18.1% strikeout rate and a home run rate of 1.03. He also has a strong 48.6% ground ball rate in his career. These results have come across 350.2 innings pitched in Queens.

Gsellman could be a big boost to a Pirate bullpen that is in dire need of a boost. He could pitch in multiple roles out of the bullpen for the Pittsburgh Pirates giving Derek Shelton flexibility. He could also pitch his way into being a nice trade chip in July.