How the Pirates should manage Johan Oviedo to start the 2025 season

After the Pirates sent Luis Ortiz to the Guardians in a package for Spencer Horwitz, the team's pitching depth shrank. Although it was smart to utilize their surplus of pitching, it does put a little more pressure on guys still stuck at the back end of the rotation.

One arm that will have a bigger role because of this trade is Johan Oviedo, who emerged in 2023 as a solid arm, but underwent Tommy John surgery that following offseason. Given the flaws that he has shown during his career, the Pirates need to be careful with how they manage Oviedo to begin the new season.

Pirates must be careful with Johan Oviedo to start 2025

Oviedo has struggled with command throughout his career, posting a career walk rate of 10.8%. Often when pitchers return from Tommy John surgery, they lose a bit of their command and it takes time to gain it back. Oviedo's attempts to get his command back will likely take longer than spring training, and given the uncertainty of Bubba Chandler's Opening Day role, the Pirates may be tempted to rush Oviedo back into a familiar role. They shouldn't.

This Pirates team has the pieces to become a contender in the National League Central, and it may hurt them more if they start Oviedo quickly. Luckily for them, he still has a minor-league option, which the Pirates should definitely utilize to make sure he is not negatively impacting the team. Instead of rushing him and placing him into the rotation, Pittsburgh would be wise to let him start the year in Indianapolis. Doing so would allow him to build up his innings before joing the rotation.

When Oviedo is fully healthy and ready to go, he will be a solid arm in the Pirates starting rotation. In 2023, Oviedo posted an earned run average of 4.31 and an FIP of 4.49 across 177.1 innings. Opponents batted .235 against him and he walked guys at a 10.6% clip to generate a WHIP of 1.37.

Oviedo could very well be a big reason why the Pirates have success in 2025, but if the Pirates are not careful, he could make more of a negative impact instead of a positive one.