Pittsburgh Pirates: Dillon Peters Key to Success in 2022

Left-handed pitcher Dillon Peters finished the 2021 season strong for the Pittsburgh Pirates, what can he do to pitch well again this season?

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have plenty of competition with their pitching staff this spring. One of the pitchers included in this competition is 29-year-old left-hander Dillon Peters who is competing for a spot in the team’s starting rotation.

Peters made 6 starts with the Pittsburgh Pirates last August/September, posting a 3.71 ERA and a 3.66 FIP in 26.2 innings pitched. He walked 8.5% of batters faced, struck out opposing batters at a 19.7% clip and allowed just a pair of home runs (0.68 HR/9).

This was the best MLB stretch of the five-year career of Peters. In 159.1 career innings pitched he owns a 5.48 ERA and FIP. His 159.1 innings pitched have come in 37 games, 30 of which have been starts.

Peters will compete for a spot in the Opening Day starting rotation of the Pittsburgh Pirates. If he fails to earn a spot in the team’s Opening Day rotation there is a good chance Peters will be in the team’s Opening Day bullpen.

Pitching out of the bullpen appears to be something Peters is open to doing. “I’m just ready to go out and throw and compete and pitch in as many games as they want me to pitch in this year,” Peters told reports following his Grapefruit League season debut on Sunday afternoon. That most certainly sounds like a pitcher who would be fine pitching games out of the bullpen. Plus, even if he starts the season in the bullpen, teams always need starting pitching help so he would likely get an opportunity to start at some point during the season.

If Peters does earn a spot in the team’s starting rotation his changeup/curveball combo will be a big reason why. Last season his changeup was a sneaky good, underrated pitch, while his curveball generate a ton of spin.

Peters threw his changeup at a 32.1% clip last season. Opposing batters struggled to make contact with the pitch as it generated a 40.4% whiff rate, while limiting opposing batters to a .225 batting average. In his first Grapefruit League start Peters threw 8 changeups. Opposing batters swung-and-missed at 3 of them and both of his strikeouts came off of his changeup.

The curveball was thrown just 16.1% of the time by Peters in 2021. However, the pitch limited opposing batters to an .091 batting average and .364 slugging percentage. It was in the 88th percentile of baseball in curveball spin rate and generated a 20.0% whiff rate.

Peters can use his curveball to help get out left-handed hitters, while his changeup can be used to neutralize right-handed hitters. No one will ever confuse Peters with any of the top lefties in the National League but he can still find success in the league as he showed in 2021.

Leaning on his changeup/curveball combination could lead to continued success for Peters in 2022. Mix in a four-seamed fastball that was effective (.290 batting average/.387 slugging percentage, 0 home runs allowed), although it did not generate much swing-and-miss action (14.3% whiff rate), and Peters could be a quality pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a reliever, swingman, or back of the rotation arm this season.