Former Pirates' top prospect is finally healthy, discusses his return to pitching

One of the first moves Ben Cherington made when he got the job with the Pirates was sending Starling Marte to the Diamondbacks for two young prospects. Unlike most of his trades, these two still reside in the organization. One of the pieces in Liover Peguero has made his MLB debut, and is currently on the 40-man roster, playing in Indianapolis, while the other went through the type of injury that players often struggle to return from.

That is Brennan Malone, and in 2022, he underwent surgery on his labrum. Ever since then, he has been working to make his return to the mound and continue to prove what he has to offer. In 2024, he was able to return to game action, but that was for just 8.2 innings in rookie ball. On Saturday night, he made his return to Low-A with the Bradenton Marauders, tossing a scoreless inning, striking out two and walking one.

"It was nice to step on the rubber tonight and feel at home even though we were away," Malone stated to Rum Bunter. "I felt as comfortable as ever. My arm felt great, as if I could have kept going, and all my pitches seemed to be working. Just happy to be out there playing the game I love again and trying to do my part in helping the team win!"

Pirates prospect Brennan Malone speaks to Rum Bunter after 2025 debut

Malone has had top prospect status throughout his career. In 2020, he was the seventh-ranked prospect in the organization, and opened at eighth in 2021. His scouting grades on MLB Pipeline were also pretty impressive in 2020, coming in at Fastball: 65 | Slider: 60 | Curveball: 50 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 50 | Overall: 50.

This injury set him back a lot, and he is now 24 years old. Luckily, he has not lost focus on his goals, as he still intends on playing for a while, hopefully finding his way up to Pittsburgh one day.

"I think what motivated me most about having labrum surgery is that many pitchers don't come back from it, and I wanted to show others that have similar surgeries that it's possible," Malone told us. "I also feel like I have a lot more baseball to play in my lifetime."

"My velocity is slowly coming back and my offspeed is getting more consistent, so I think I'm in a really good spot to keep pushing forward."

Malone has gone through a lot, and has not been a name that most Pirates fans have heard from recently. He is finally back, though, and fans should get excited for him. Pitching is definitely a strong area in the organization as is, but there can never be enough. Getting Malone back up to strength was a major priority for the organization, and now it's his time to shine.

"Really I just plan to give it everything I have this year, I feel like my arm is recovering well and ready for more innings," Malone noted. "I have worked a lot on finding a routine that works for me and also making quick adjustments on the mound pitch to pitch, and am excited to compete this year."