Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Relief Pitchers to Target in Free Agency

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SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 14: Tommy Kahnle #44 of the Los Angeles Dodgers delivers a pitch against the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning in game three of the National League Division Series at PETCO Park on October 14, 2022 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /

The Pittsburgh Pirates should pursue these three free agent relief pitchers to bolster the bullpen during this upcoming off-season.

The Pittsburgh Pirates relief corps is thin. Aside from David Bednar, the team will rely on a handful of inexperienced arms like Yerry De Los Santos and Colin Holderman or relievers who had inconsistent 2022 seasons like Wil Crowe. The Pirates need to go out and get some relief pitching, and this year’s free-agent market holds some underrated names.

Today, I want to point out three free-agent relievers the Pittsburgh Pirates should target in free agency. The team needs to add something in the way of relief pitching, and free agency would be the easiest way to get a few quality arms to bolster the bullpen behind Bednar.

If the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t want to rely on a handful of rookies, then these relievers might be helpful to the team.

Tommy Kahnle

Tommy Kahnle returned from Tommy John surgery this season. He pretty much missed two seasons, pitching just a single inning in 2020 and then undergoing the knife late in the campaign, causing him to miss the 2021 season. Before the surgery, Kahnle was the owner of a 3.67 ERA, 3.33 FIP, and 1.06 WHIP in 2019.

The LA Dodgers then signed Kahnle in the 2020-2021 offseason, and while he only pitched 12.2 innings in 2022, they were an effective small sample size. He only allowed four earned runs, three free passes and struck out 14. He did allow two home runs but ran into some lousy flyball luck. Kahnle’s home run-to-flyball ratio was 28.6%, despite having a 68% ground ball rate and holding opponents to an astounding 82.3 MPH exit velocity.

Kahnle completely changed his repertoire in 2022. He used his change-up over three-quarters of the time, with a 76.4% usage rate. His fastball usage rate then dropped to just 23.6%. Kahnle’s changeup is nasty, having over 31 inches of drop and nearly 13 inches of horizontal break.

Although Kahnle did lose a tick of velo off his fastball, working closer to 95-96 MPH rather than 97-98 MPH, his change-up velocity remained about the same, and he even gained movement on both offerings. Kahnle will enter 2023 at 33 years old, but he’s proved he can still be a highly effective high-leverage arm.

Will Smith

The Atlanta Braves entered the 2023 season with arguably the league’s best bullpen. Part of the reason they had such a strong bullpen going into the year was because of former all-star Will Smith, who was their closer in 2021. But Smith struggled to start the year for Atlanta.

Through Smith’s first 37 innings of 2022, Smith posted a poor 4.38 ERA, 5.22 FIP, and 1.51 WHIP. While the southpaw struck out 24% of the batters he faced, he allowed 12.3% to reach via free pass and surrendered home runs at a 1.7-per-9 rate. The Braves then traded him to the Houston Astros in a one-for-one swap for starting pitcher Jake Odorizzi where he re-found his form.

Through his final 22 innings of the season, Smith worked to the tune of a 3.27 ERA, 2.66 FIP, and 1.23 WHIP. Smith’s strikeout rate saw an uptick to 26.7% while his home run rate dropped to .82-per-9 innings. But the most significant improvement was his walk rate shrinking to just 4.4%. Smith had a 6.0 K:BB ratio with the Astros. The underlying numbers also supported Smith’s production with Houston. He posted a 3.09 xFIP and 2.83 SIERA throughout his final 22 innings of the campaign.

Smith does have a team option for 2022, but for $13 million, it’s unlikely the Astros will pick that up. The Pirates only have one lefty who is projected as part of their bullpen in, Manny Bañuelos. Smith’s second half shows he still has some left in the tank and could provide the Pittsburgh Pirates with a much-needed left-handed bullpen option, especially for late innings.

Chris Martin

Chris Martin was a late-blooming reliever. He broke out at the age of 32 and has been one of the better relief pitchers in the league since. Even though 2023 will be his age-37 campaign, Martin is coming off the best season in his career and will look for a high-leverage role this off-season.

Martin pitched a total of 56 innings with the Chicago Cubs and Los Angeles Dodgers. He had a healthy 3.05 ERA but an amazing 2.18 FIP and 0.98 WHIP. Martin had the 13th-lowest FIP among all qualified relief pitchers in 2022. Martin avoided walks like the plague, posting a 2.2% walk rate, the lowest walk rate in MLB. Don’t be mistaken; Martin also struck out nearly a third of the batters he faced with a 32.9% strikeout rate. He easily led the league in K:BB ratio by a margin of 4.63 strikeouts (posted a 14.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio). Martin was great when it mattered the most. He held opponents to a putrid .216/.222/.353 mark. Overall, he held opponents to a .566 OPS from the seventh inning onward.

The only real knock on his season was his .96 HR/9 rate, which is still right around the league average. Martin induced ground balls 49% of the time, which was the second-best mark of his career. It’s not as if luck was playing in Martin’s favor. He had a 1.87 SIERA and 2.01 xFIP, supporting his strong surface numbers.

Next. 2022 Prospect Season in Review: Mason Martin. dark

Although Martin may be one of the oldest relief pitchers on the free agent market, he’s proven time and time again that he can be a productive relief pitcher. There’s no signs of slowing down for Martin, and he’s one reliever the Pirates defintiely should put in their crosshairs.

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The Pittsburgh Pirates should pursue these three free agent relief pitchers to bolster the bullpen during this upcoming off-season.

Tommy Kahnle

Will Smith

Chris Martin

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