4 last-minute free agent pitchers Pirates can pursue after Andrew Heaney signing

Spencer Turnbull

Kyle Finnegan and David Robertson would be additions the Pirates would make if they wanted to make the later innings more secure. Meanwhile, Andrew Heaney is an option for if the Pirates wanted to finalize the rotation. A middle ground between those options is Spencer Turnbull, a pitcher who can both throw some innings as a reliever and make a start when he needs to.

Turnbull is coming off a season where he had a 2.65 ERA, 3.85 FIP, and 1.05 WHIP for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2024. He struck out over a quarter of his opponents, with a 26.1% K%, as well as an 87.8 MPH exit velocity (top 76th percentile) and a 7.2% barrel rate (61st percentile). This helped him keep up an 0.99 HR/9 rate - but if Turnbull keeps up a similar exit velo and barrel rate in 2025, he could improve in this department as well, given a move out of Citizens Bank Park would put him in a much less homer-friendly environment. Turnbull’s 9% walk rate was about the only big negative to his game, but even that is manageable. Turnbull’s stuff can play in either a relief or starter role, as he had a 101 Stuff+ mark last season.

These numbers are great, but there are some things to note first. Turnbull missed the second half of the season after tossing 54.1 innings in the first half (17 appearances, seven games started). It’s also not the first time he has suffered a major injury. He missed a large chunk of 2021 and all of 2022 due to Tommy John surgery. Even in 2023, he only tossed 31 frames.

Turnbull’s pristine ERA isn’t completely empty, but is also not 100% sustainable. He had a .233 batting average on balls in play, significantly lower than his career average of .300. The right-hander put up a 3.80 xFIP and 3.67 SIERA, both of which were still above average, but over a run greater than his bottom line ERA.

Still, Turnbull would not be a bad addition to the Pirates’ pitching staff. He would give them a much-needed flexible arm. A similar pitcher to compare him to is another swingman, Jakob Junis, who signed a one-year, $4.5 million contract with the Cleveland Guardians last week. He had some very comparable numbers to Turnbull, is around the same age, and fills a similar role. But the Pirates might even be able to land Turnbull for cheaper, given the spring training start date and the fact he missed all games after July.