3 Pirates players who will exceed expectations in 2025

Joey Wentz

The Pirates acquired Joey Wentz late last season off waivers from the Detroit Tigers. A former top prospect, Wentz was in the midst of an unimpressive season with a 5.37 ERA, 4.50 FIP, and 1.57 WHIP across 55.1 innings for the Tigers in 2024. His 23.6% strikeout rate was solid, but walks were an issue (10.6% BB%), as were home runs (1.30 HR/9). Mix in an unimpressive 88.8 MPH exit velocity and 8.5% barrel rate, and it was no surprise Wentz was prone to clogging the bases and being hit hard once they were full.

But after the Pirates acquired the lefty at the start of September, Wentz went on to allow just two earned runs in a dozen innings. He struck out 13 opponents and did not allow a single walk. Wentz did not get hit hard, either, unlike during his time with the Tigers. He had just an 84 MPH exit velocity and allowed zero barreled batted balls, although he still handed out a half-dozen free passes.

Wentz changed the way he pitched to batters after arriving in Pittsburgh. He lived further up in the zone with his fastball, which has an above-average vertical break. His changeup was used down and in to left-handed batters/down and away to right-handed batters more frequently. The southpaw also put his curveball in the zone more often, and utilized his cutter down and into righties/down and away to lefties.

Overall, Wentz finished the year with above-average marks in multiple Baseball Savant stats, including xERA (3.70, 62nd percentile), xBA (.223, 73rd percentile), average exit velocity (88.1 MPH, 71st percentile), both whiff (29.6%, 80th percentile) and chase rate (29.6%, 59th percentile), and barrel percentage (7.2%, 61st percentile). The Pirates have had some recent success turning small-time pickups like Wentz into quality relievers like Ryan Borucki and Dennis Santana, so Wentz has a decent chance of being their next breakout reliever in 2025.