3 underrated players Pirates are deeply missing (who will return this season)

2. Dauri Moreta

The Pirates’ bullpen is off to another worrying start. David Bednar struggled in the second half of 2024, and so badly to open 2025 that they’ve already optioned him to Triple-A. Colin Holderman has recently been placed on the 15-day IL, but he is also off to a dreadful start, and did poorly last year during the second half of the season. For now, he won't be missed.

The Pirates are now trying to figure things out without Bednar in the ninth inning, and it would have surely helped if Dauri Moreta was an option when The Renegade went down.

Acquired in the 2022-2023 offseason in a one-for-one trade with the Cincinnati Reds for Kevin Newman, Moreta’s ‘23 campaign was a huge step forward for the right-hander. In 58 innings, Moreta owned a 3.72 ERA, 2.93 FIP, and 1.09 WHIP. While he had a subpar 10% walk rate, he also struck out 31.8% of opponents. Moreta also kept home runs to a minimum, with only an 0.62 HR/9, while being in the 89th percentile of exit velocity at 86.7 MPH. However, his 8.1% barrel rate did not turn many heads.

Regardless, Moreta’s 2023 campaign was very promising. He had both an ERA and FIP over 5.00 in 2022, saw his K% rise by over 7%, and cut his HR/9 rate down all the way from over 2.00. Heading into spring training, Moreta was obviously seen as a key part of the Pirates’ bullpen, but he underwent Tommy John surgery before the season even began.

Moreta should be back on a professional mound by June, according to Alex Stumpf of MLB.com in a report from March. He began throwing off the mound in spring training, with two sessions a week on the backfields throughout the preseason. He should begin to face live batters this month, and could be a huge boost to a bullpen that could desperately use another arm.