Pirates bullpen volatility could force a trade reunion nobody expected this soon

As the Pittsburgh Pirates jockey for position in the crowded and highly competitive NL Central, it's starting to become time to take a hard look at the team's weak points and begin formulating a plan of attack as to how to improve them on the trade market. One unit in particular that stands out as a prime area for upgrade is the bullpen.

Through the action on May 10, the Pirates' pen is a slightly below-average unit in the majors. They rank 17th in the majors with a 4.14 ERA, 13th in FIP with a 3.98 mark, and 19th in xFIP at 4.38. As far as things directly in the relievers' control, their 23.1% strikeout rate is relatively solid, ranking 11th in the league, but their 11% walk rate is far too elevated and ranks 20th.

This isn't to say that the entire relief corps needs an overhaul. Gregory Soto has been dominant with a 1.33 ERA. Evan Sisk has been a pleasant surprise with a 1.80 mark. Mason Montgomery and Dennis Santana have been solid with ERAs of 3.29 and 3.63, respectively.

On the other hand, the unit is still short. The duo of Isaac Mattson and Justin Lawrence was expected to be under-the-radar contributors, but they've fallen well short, with Mattson posting a 4.67 ERA and Lawrence generating an even worse 6.46 ERA.

The best thing Pittsburgh could do is add a fire-breathing stud to the ninth, shifting everyone down a peg and making the unit greater than the sum of its parts. Some already have the target in mind, a closer the Pirates know very well in Aroldis Chapman.

The Pirates swinging a deal for Aroldis Chapman could set the bullpen right

Chapman was fine for the Pirates during his one-year stint in Pittsburgh back in 2024. He struck out batters at a fantastic rate, coming in at 37%. The flip side to that was that he was at times ineffectively wild, walking batters at a 14.7% clip. The total package yielded a 3.79 ERA that was fine, but not worth keeping around as he aged.

At least, that's what we thought at the time. When the Cuban Missile shipped up to Boston, no one expected that Red Sox catcher Connor Wong teaching him to throw strikes would be the key to unlocking the best baseball of his career in his late 30s.

That's exactly what has happened, though. In 2025, Chapman posted a ridiculous 1.17 ERA and 1.73 FIP in large part because he cut that walk rate down to a well-above-average 6.6%. So far in 2026, the 38-year-old has been even better with a 0.71 ERA, 1.54 FIP, and a 6.4% walk rate.

Inserting a closer like Chapman in the ninth automatically makes a difference, but it would also have a compounding effect as everyone else moves down the pecking order by a peg. Moving Soto to eighth-inning duty, having Santana take over the seventh, and positioning Montgomery in the sixth means the starters only need to give the Pirates five solid innings before turning it over to a lethal collection of relievers.

Paul Skenes and the rest of the Pirates' budding rotation are capable of going more than five, of course, which means they could mix and match as needed while ensuring that everyone stays fresh, which again will elevate the entire unit.

The Boston Red Sox have been a major disappointment, and the two clubs have made deals in the past thanks to Ben Cherington's ties to Boston. Though the most recent Johan Oviedo-Jhostynxon Garcia deal might have left a bad taste in the Red Sox's mouth, there's no denying that it could be a deal that makes sense for both sides. Especially the Pirates, who with just one acquisition could take a weakness and turn it into a real strength.

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