Pirates demote standout reliever as David Bednar continues to struggle

Despite a strong spring showing, one of the Pittsburgh Pirates' top bullpen arms is being left off of the 2025 Opening Day roster.

In a somewhat surprising move, the Pirates announced on Sunday that they had optioned right-hander Kyle Nicolas to Triple-A Indianapolis, putting the club's Major League spring training roster at 37 players with Opening Day just days away.

Nicolas impressed this spring, surrendering two runs (one earned) on seven hits and eight walks while striking out eight batters over nine innings in eight Grapefruit League appearances. However, his pristine 1.00 ERA in spring training apparently wasn't enough to earn him a spot on the Pirates' Open Day roster.

Pirates demote Kyle Nicolas as David Bednar continues to struggle

Nicolas also opened the 2024 season in Indianapolis, where he pitched to a 0.84 ERA in 10 ⅔ innings of work while holding opposing hitters to a .061 batting average. The Pirates called him up on April 26, and he spent the majority of the season with the big-league club. Nicolas pitched to a 3.95 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with 55 strikeouts over 54 ⅔ innings in 51 games with Pittsburgh in 2024 before a left oblique strain landed him on the injured list in mid-September and ended his season.

The fact that Nicolas still has minor league options remaining probably factored in heavily to the Pirates' decision to leave him off of the Opening Day roster, and it's likely that he won't have to wait long for a Major League call-up in 2025. In fact, it may only take a handful of blown saves from David Bednar before the Pirates pull the trigger.

In what has been a critical spring for Bednar, as he looks to get back on track after an abysmal 2024 season, the former closer hasn't exactly risen to the occasion. In seven innings across eight Grapefruit League appearances, Bednar has struck out nine but given up nine runs (eight earned) to record an ERA of 10.29.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton removed Bednar as the primary closer on Aug. 30 of last year, going with a closer-by-committee approach for the rest of the season. Aroldis Chapman split closing duties with Dennis Santana down the stretch; and with Chapman no longer on the team, Nicolas represents one of the Pirates' primary leverage relief options in the likely event that Bednar falters again this season.

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