Pittsburgh Pirates: David Bednar to Pitch in World Baseball Classic

On Thursday it was announced that relief pitcher David Bednar will represent the Pittsburgh Pirates while pitching for Team USA in the 2023 World Baseball Classic

The yinzer is going to be pitching for Team USA. On Thursday, it was announced that Pittsburgh Pirates reliever, and Pittsburgh native, David Bednar is set to pitch in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

During the 2022 season, Bednar was an All-Star for the first time in his MLB career. This included Bednar pitching a scoreless inning of relief in the MLB All-Star Game. Bednar finished the season with a 2.61 ERA, 2.44 FIP, 7.6% walk rate, 32.9% strikeout rate, and 19 saves in 51.2 innings pitched across 45 relief outings.

Bednar’s strong 2022 season built upon his breakout 2021 campaign. Since joining the Pirates the righty has emerged as one of the best relief pitchers in the National League.

At one point during the summer, Bednar found himself struggling on the mound. This led to a lot of concern among fans that he may have been overused by manager Derek Shelton, potentially leading to long-term issues for Bednar.

Bednar’s struggles stemmed from injury, however, leading to an injured list stint. After missing nearly two months of action, late in September, Bednar returned from the injured list and made five appearances for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In these five outings, Bednar pitched 5.0 innings. Bednar allowed a run on six hits, two walks, no home runs, and six strikeouts in these 5.0 innings pitched. It was certainly encouraging to see Bednar finish the season strong following his long stint on the injured list.

The 2023 World Baseball Classic is slated to be played from March 8th through the 23rd. This comes after the 2021 World Baseball Classic was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023 edition of the World Baseball Classic will be played in Japan, Taiwan, Phoneix, and Miami