3 recently non-tendered pitchers the Pirates should go after

Hoby Milner

The Pirates need lefty relievers, and one really good one may have just hit the open market. Hoby Milner headed into the 2024 campaign after a tremendous breakout season the year prior. He had a 1.82 ERA, 3.13 FIP, and 0.96 WHIP in 2023. The side-armer struck out 23.4% of the batters he faced with a microscopic 5.2% free pass rate. He held opponents to just an 86.6 MPH exit velocity and 6.2% barrel percentage, which helped him put up an 0.70 HR/9 rate.

Milner's ERA shot up to 4.73 throughout 64.2 innings during 2024, but surprisingly, that's about where the differences end between his 2023 and 2024 season. Nearly all of his peripherals and underlying metrics either stayed relatively the same from 2023 or improved. His ERA appears very deceptive once you look under the hood.

Milner had a 23.9% K% and a 5.2% walk rate. He continued to be elite at limiting hard contact, and his 2.7% barrel rate was in the 99th percentile, paired nicely with a HR/9 rate of 0.84. Milner posted a better xFIP (3.15) and better SIERA (3.08) than last year, when he had a 3.66 xFIP and 3.43 SIERA. 

Milner is a soft-tosser, but saw a huge uptick in his overall stuff in 2024. Stuff+ only put Milner's ability at a 74 in 2023. But this past season? That number dramatically rose to 104. With all that being said, it's a surprise the Brewers let Milner go. He is only projected to earn $2.7 million in arbitration, and nothing beyond his ERA suggests he's in store for another mediocre season.

Wilmer Flores

Right-handed pitcher Wilmer Flores (not to be confused with his brother, SF Giants infielder Wilmer Flores) was once one of the premier prospects in the Detroit Tigers farm system as recently as early 2023. The right-hander was a top 100 prospect according to both MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus. Unfortunately, he's now coming off a very rough 2024, where he spent most of the year at Triple-A.

Flores was limited to just 25.1 innings this season because of an AC joint sprain. That kept him out of action from mid-May until early September. When Flores was healthy enough to take the field, he produced an 8.35 ERA, 6.25 FIP, and 2.09 WHIP. Flores walked (24) more batters than he struck out (23) and had a 1.07 HR/9 rate.

Flores' season couldn't have gone much worse, but it's not as if he hasn't pitched well when healthy. In 2023, he tossed 80.2 innings for the Tigers' Double-A affiliate, working to a 3.90 ERA, 3.35 FIP, and 1.29 WHIP. Walks were far less of an issue with a 9.5% BB%, and he carried a respectable 24.5% strikeout rate. However, he was excellent at limiting the long ball. His HR/9 was just 0.56, as he put up a 48.6% ground ball rate and 31.7% fly ball rate.

Flores was averaging out at 95.9 MPH this year, but his release point is so far out in front of him, adding a ton of deception and making his heater perform more like a 97-98 MPH fastball. Not only does Flores throw hard with a deceptive release point, but his four-seamer has 13.9 inches of drop, which is above average, giving it the 'riding fastball' effect.

The right-hander rounds his arsenal out with three pitches. His mid-80s slider comes with about 40 inches of drop. For reference, the average MLB slider had about 36 inches of drop last year. Lastly, there's his upper 70s/low 80s curveball. Flores' curve excels in vertical movement at about 61 inches, like the rest of his offerings. The MLB average was 53.2 inches.

Flores' season was tough, to say the least. An ERA over 8.00 and more walks than Ks is bad, but next year will only be his age-24 campaign. It was only one year ago that Flores wrapped up a pretty solid season at Double-A after entering the year as a top-100 prospect according to some publications. The Pirates have shown they've been able to develop some young, hard-throwing arms over the last year, so what harm would there be in bringing in Flores and letting him try and figure things out at Indy?