4 former division rival players the Pirates should pursue this offseason

Jakob Junis

Jakob Junis missed a chunk of 2024, as he made his season debut on April 2 with the Milwaukee Brewers before landing on the IL with a shoulder impingement. This injury, along with a freak accident during batting practice where Junis was hit on the head with a ball at PNC Park, kept him on the injured list until late June. However, while Junis missed over two months, he was an effective multi-inning/spot starter arm when healthy.

Junis pitched a total of 67 innings with the Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds (to whom he was traded at the deadline), making a half-dozen starts in 24 total appearances. The right-hander had a 2.69 ERA, 3.69 FIP, and 0.85 WHIP. While Junis saw his K% drop from 26.2% in 2023 with the SF Giants to just 20.2% this year, his walk rate moved in the right direction from 5.7% to just 3.2%. Junis also had an above-average 1.07 HR/9 rate.

Some of Junis’ underlying numbers expect him to regress, but still be an effective pitcher. He had a 3.87 xFIP and 3.36 SIERA. However, those numbers are not far off from his work with the Giants in ‘22-’23, when he had a 3.67 xFIP and 3.59 SIERA. Junis had a 3.71 xERA in 2023 and 3.87 xERA in 2024. There was a significant decrease in Stuff+ from 112 to just 99, which was the biggest red flag in Junis’ 2024 season.

Junis will be in his age-32 season in 2025. Since the Pirates traded Luis Ortiz, they've needed a pitcher who can go multiple innings at a time and can take the ball to start games as well. They could always use more pitching depth. Plus, adding a Junis type would allow them to be more flexible with young pitchers on the 40-man roster like Braxton Ashcraft and Mike Burrows, while easing Johan Oviedo back into action after recovering from Tommy John surgery.