Pittsburgh Pirates 2021 Recap: David Bednar

In his first season with his hometown Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed reliever David Bednar was dominant out of the bullpen, putting together one of the best rookie season a Pirate reliever has ever had

On January 19th, 2021, the Pittsburgh Pirates were involved in a seven-player, three-team trade with the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets. In the trade the Pirates sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres and received a total of five players in return.

Four of these players came from the Padres while the fifth came from the Mets. One of the four players acquired from the Padres was right-handed reliever David Bednar. Upon joining the Pirates it did not take the Pittsburgh native long to make an impact.

Pitching out of the bullpen Bednar put together one of the best rookie seasons a reliever has ever had with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bednar pitched 60.2 innings in 61 outings. He posted a 2.23 ERA, 2.69 FIP, 8.0% walk rate, and a healthy 32.5% strikeout rate. His strikeout rate was driven by a chase rate that ranked in the 83rd percentile of baseball and a whiff rate that was in the 8th percentile. Bednar limited opposing batters to a .184 batting average and allowed just 5 home runs.

Bednar used a power fastball and a curveball/splitter combo to find his success. His fastball averaged 96.7 MPH and ranked in the 92nd percentile of baseball in fastball velocity. Opposing batters hit just .195 off the pitch and it generated a 27.9% whiff rate.

Opposing batters hit just .128 off of his curveball and .208 off of his splitter. His curveball generated a 46.8% whiff rate and his splitter, while not as lethal, still generated a healthy 35.8% whiff rate.

When opposing hitters did manage to make contact with Bednar’s pitches it was not quality contact. He limited opposing batters to a 5.7% barrel rate and a 31.4% hard hit rate, both of which were better than league average. The average exit velocity off of Bednar’s pitches was 87.3 MPH, which is a full MPH lower than the league average. Bednar ranked in the 82nd percentile of baseball in barrel rate allowed and average exit velocity, while ranking in the 92nd percentile in harsh it rate.

The season that Bednar had led to him finishing 8th in National League Rookie of the Year voting. To be honest, had Bednar put together the season he did on a contending team he probably would have finished even higher in NL Rookie of the Year voting.

Moving forward Bednar will be the key piece in the Pirate bullpen. He remains under team control through the 2026 season. One day, hopefully in the not too distant future, the Mars High School product will be jogging to the PNC Park mound as “Renegade” blares over the loudspeakers with Bednar looking to close out important/postseason games for the Pittsburgh Pirates.