Carmen Mlodzinski's first start sheds light on why his bullpen role is significant

In his first outing as a starting pitcher, Carmen Mlodzinski had some positive flashes of success, but also saw some negatives later in his outing. Transitioning him into a starter seemed like a risk, and once he got later into his start those questions about him in this role became even more apparent, shedding light on how important his bullpen presence was.

He threw three scoreless innings before giving up five hits, two walks, and four earned runs in the fourth, leading to him finishing with just 3 2/3 innings. He added four strikeouts as well, including two in the first inning. Although it was just one outing as a starter, Mlodzinski looked really great through the order the first time through, rather than multiple times, which is exactly how he thrived in his previous role.

In 2023 and 2024, Mlodzinski was utilized in high-leverage roles. He's not quite a setup man or closer, but when things were close in the sixth and seventh innings, he was the guy. Watching David Bednar and Colin Holderman struggle to open up 2025 really shows why Mlodzinski could have emerged as a setup man, or even the new closer.

Carmen Mlodzinski struggled in starting role, which showed why he should be in Pirates' bullpen

Mlodzinski's has a career 2.91 ERA and 1.22 WHIP across 86 2/3 innings as a reliever. He sports a .215 batting average against and walked batters at a 10.2% clip alongside a 22.2% strikeout rate. Those numbers are excellent as a reliever, but if that walk rate continues to climb as a starter, he could run into trouble, just like he did against the Rays.

With options knocking on the door to the big leagues in Triple-A, the Pirates could have made the right move making Mlodzinski a key reliever and tried out one of their top-notch prospects in the rotation. Jared Jones and Johan Oviedo will find their way back at some point this season, yet the Pirates are struggling out of the bullpen and there could have been an easier way around this.