Brutal Kirby Yates injury opens valuable September opportunity for Pirates rookie

The Pittsburgh Pirates signed veteran right-hander Kirby Yates at the trade deadline because they believed they would be playing meaningful baseball down the stretch. Unfortunately, he'll now be spending much of September watching from the sidelines.

The 39-year-old reliever had quickly become one of the steadier pieces of a rebuilt bullpen in Pittsburgh. Losing him now, with Pittsburgh still trying to hang around the National League wild-card race, is undeniably a blow. But if there is a silver lining to Yates’ right shoulder impingement, it is that the Pirates now have every reason to find out exactly what they have in Khristian Curtis.

Yates was placed on the 15-day injured list Thursday, retroactive to Aug. 31, after posting a 2.19 ERA in 13 appearances since being acquired from the Angels. The 39-year-old has a 3.40 ERA with 47 strikeouts against only 13 walks in 39.2 innings overall this season.

The timing of the injury is particularly unfortunate considering what happened in San Diego on Aug. 26. Yates threw 35 pitches in the eighth inning that night, the most he had ever thrown in a single inning during his 12-year major-league career. He made only one more appearance before landing on the IL.

There is no way to definitively connect that unusually heavy workload to his shoulder injury, but the sequence is difficult to ignore. For a veteran reliever the Pirates specifically acquired to stabilize their bullpen for the stretch run, losing him barely a month after the deadline is frustrating.

It also creates innings that have to go somewhere, and Curtis should get plenty of them.

The 24-year-old right-hander was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to replace Yates and immediately demonstrated Thursday why his role could become more interesting than simply filling an empty bullpen spot.

Khristian Curtis gets well deserved September opportunity with Pirates following Kirby Yates injury

Curtis allowed two runs over three innings against the Giants, hardly the sparkling line he produced during his first two major-league appearances, but it was enough to earn him his first major league win. The value also came in the workload, we he absorbed three innings while Pittsburgh protected its lead and allowed manager Don Kelly to avoid burning through more of the bullpen.

That versatility has value, particularly in a Pirates pitching staff that has repeatedly needed creative solutions behind its established starters.

Curtis had previously thrown eight scoreless major-league innings while allowing only two hits, becoming one of just four Pirates relievers in the Modern Era to work at least three scoreless innings while allowing two or fewer hits in each of his first two games.

His minor-league numbers aren't overwhelming — a 5.18 ERA in 22 appearances, including 17 starts, between Altoona and Indianapolis — but September should be less about protecting that résumé and more about discovering whether his stuff can translate into a useful major-league role.

Maybe Curtis eventually becomes a starter. Maybe he fits better as a multi-inning reliever who can bridge the middle of games. Maybe he can become the type of pitcher who gives Kelly three or four innings when a starter exits early or the Pirates use a bullpen game. Those are worthwhile questions for Pittsburgh to answer now.

For a franchise that has to build as much pitching depth internally as possible, September can double as an audition. Every extended look at Curtis gives the Pirates more information before they start constructing their 2027 pitching staff. Thursday's outing, even with two runs allowed, was part of that evaluation.

Yates' absence unquestionably makes Pittsburgh's bullpen thinner at exactly the wrong time. But the Pirates can't change that now. What they can do is make sure the innings created by his injury aren't wasted. For Curtis, they could become the biggest opportunity of his young career.

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