Pittsburgh Pirates: Free Agent Starting Pitchers Still Available

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to look for another starting pitcher for the back of the rotation and here is what the market is currently offering.

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to figure out the last spot of the rotation. The first four starters look to be a mix of Roansy Contreras, Mitch Keller, Johan Oviedo, and JT Brubaker. If the season was to start right now, one of Bryse Wilson, Zach Thompson, or Vince Velaquez would be the final fifth starter.

While the Pittsburgh Pirates don’t need to splurge massively, given they have top prospects like Quinn Priester, Mike Burrows, Kyle Nicolas, and Luis Ortiz, it would be nice to solidify the back of the rotation. The first four spots look decent, and having some stability behind them would be preferred.

So with that, what’s left on the free agent market for the Pirates to pursue?

Mid-Tier Veterans

With Chris Bassitt signing with the Toronto Blue Jays, the only high-end starting pitcher left is Carlos Rodon, who has a snowball’s chance in hell at ending up with the Pirates. So we’ll jump straight into the mid-tier veterans.

On the surface, Ross Stripling should be in the upper level of free-agent pitchers. The former LA Dodger worked to a 3.01 ERA, 3.11 FIP, and 1.02 WHIP through 134.1 innings. He also had a career-best walk rate at 3.7% (3rd best among pitchers with 130+ frames) and HR/9 at 0.8. But Stripling has never started 25 games in a single season, nor has he ever pitched 150+ innings. Last year, he only started 24 of the 32 games he appeared in, and he’s mostly worked as a swing-man type arm. He’s not a spring chicken either at 33 years of age. But he definitely sits the closest to one of the better arms remaining.

One veteran the Pirates should be more than familiar with is Michael Wacha. The right-hander spent the first seven seasons of his MLB career with the St. Louis Cardinals. After a rough 2020 and 2021, Wacha rebounded to a 3.32 ERA, 4.14 FIP, and 1.12 WHIP with the Boston Red Sox. Wacha’s 1.27 HR/9 is a tad high, but six of the 18 total home runs he allowed came in the final two starts of his season. After his September 22nd start, Wacha had a 2.70 ERA, 3.65 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP.

Despite a down season compared to 2021, Nathan Eovaldi was still effective overall. In 109.1 innings, the hard-throwing starting pitcher had a 3.87 ERA and 1.23 WHIP. However, his FIP clocked in at 4.30. Eovaldi had a 22.3% strikeout rate, which is typical for him, but he also had an elite 4.3% walk rate. Eovaldi struggled with the long ball with a 1.73 HR/9. However, he also had a 17.2% HR/FB ratio. Once you account for that, the soon-to-be 33-year-old had a 3.46 xFIP and 3.55 SIERA.

Drew Smyly is a left-hander who was decent for the division rival Chicago Cubs last campaign. The southpaw was limited to just 106.1 innings but had a 3.47 ERA, 4.23 FIP, and 1.19 WHIP. Smyly’s 20.4% strikeout rate is a career low for the lefty, but his 5.8% walk rate is the best he’s put up since 2013 when he was a relief pitcher with the Detroit Tigers. But home runs were an issue with a 1.35 HR/9. But Smyly is a decent left-handed starting pitcher who is still looking for a team.

Another veteran who has bounced around the last few seasons is Zach Davies. Davies was still about league average last season with a 4.09 ERA, but had a 4.83 FIP. Davies’ 17.9% strikeout rate falls right in line with his career average, though his 9.1% walk rate is a tad high for him. He also struggled with the long ball last year, allowing 21 in 134.1 innings (1.41 HR/9 rate). He’s only ever once had a below league average ERA in just one season (min 100 IP). Davies might be on the lower-end of this section, but he’s consistently provided #5-type starter results.

One last mid-tier veteran worth mentioning is Noah Syndergaard. Now granted, I highly doubt Syndergaard would sign with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He’s previously had some choice words about the Pittsburgh Pirates, so I doubt they’re on his wish list of teams he wants to sign with. But he did have a solid 3.94 ERA, 3.83 FIP, and 1.25 WHIP in 134.2 innings with the LA Angels and Philadelphia Phillies, which puts him firmly in the mid-tier veteran category.

Aging But Still Effective

The oldest player on the free agent market this year is southpaw Rich Hill. At 42 years old, you’d think Hill would be ready to hang up the cleats, or his performance would force him to. However, he has hung in there and was a solid back-of-the-rotation starter for the Red Sox last year. In 124.1 innings, Hill worked to a 4.27 ERA, 3.92 FIP, and 1.30 WHIP. Hill had an unimpressive 20.7% strikeout rate, but quality 7.8% walk rate and workable 1.09 HR/9. Hill turns 43 in March, which would make him the oldest active pitcher to play Major League Baseball since Bartolo Colon in 2018 at a youthful 45.

Former Cy Young winner Corey Kluber had a decent bounce-back campaign at 36 with the Tampa Bay Rays. In 164 innings, Kluber worked to a 4.34 ERA but 3.57 FIP and 1.21 WHIP. Kluber led Major League pitchers with a 3% walk rate, which is by far the best of his career. Though this also came with a 20.2% strikeout rate and 1.1 HR/9. Despite now averaging out below 90 MPH, Kluber has seemingly adapted and has still been effective. His ERA might not have been too pretty, but he had two clunker starts, one on May 10th and the other on September 10th. Outside of those two outings, he pitched to a 3.65 ERA.

Last but certainly not least among the older veterans is Zack Greinke. The future potential Hall of Fame starter signed with his former long-time team, the Kansas City Royals, for the 2022 season and gave them the kind of production you’d expect from an old Greinke. The veteran worked to a 3.68 ERA, 4.03 FIP, and 1.34 WHIP. He had a 0.92 HR/9 (granted, he pitched in the cavernous Kauffman) and an outstanding 4.6% walk rate. But what was worrying was his 12.5% strikeout rate. While there are plenty of effective low strikeout pitchers, only four pitchers in the last decade have had an above-league-average ERA in 130+ IP and a sub-13% strikeout rate. Plus, at 39, there are more questions than concrete answers. However, there are far worse options than Greinke.