Pirates' desperate pitching move already looks like a complete disaster

The Pittsburgh Pirates needed bullpen help. What they appear to have found instead is a pretty loud admission that they are running out of answers. But we already knew that.

As first reported by Alex Stumpf on Friday, the Pirates are recalling right-handers Antwone Kelly and Thomas Harrington from Triple-A Indianapolis. The club has not yet confirmed the move, and the corresponding transactions are still unknown. But the message is already clear enough: Pittsburgh’s pitching situation has officially reached rock bottom. And bounced.

Kelly is the understandable part of this. He made his MLB debut on June 12, threw 2 1/3 innings and allowed two runs, then was sent right back to Indianapolis the next day. Since returning to Triple-A, he has worked more in bulk, including six scoreless innings on July 3. His overall numbers since the option — a 6.14 ERA in 14 2/3 innings — are not exactly screaming promotion, but the raw stuff at least makes the gamble intriguing.

Kelly’s fastball sits around 97 mph, and he has already hit triple digits 17 times this season. For a Pirates bullpen that badly needs swing-and-miss, velocity and a different look, giving him an extended opportunity actually makes sense. At some point, the Pirates have to find out whether that arm can help them in meaningful innings.

Harrington is the part that makes the move feel desperate. The 24-year-old is still a notable prospect, ranked No. 12 in the organization by MLB Pipeline, and he did get a brief taste of the majors last season. But his 2026 performance at Indianapolis has been rough. Harrington owns a 6.52 ERA across 58 innings, which makes his call-up hard to spin as anything other than need overpowering results.

Maybe the Pirates see a short-burst version of Harrington that can play better out of the bullpen. Maybe they believe his stuff can tick up in relief. Maybe they simply need innings after watching their bullpen continue to cough up winnable games. But whatever the internal reasoning, calling up a pitcher with that Triple-A line while fighting to stay in the playoff race doesn't inspire much confidence.

Pirates fans calling for Dennis Santana to lose his roster spot after latest pitching call ups

It is also impossible to separate these roster moves from Dennis Santana’s collapse. Less than 24 hours after allowing a go-ahead two-run homer to former Pirate Joey Bart on Wednesday, Santana was used again in a one-run game Thursday and gave up a grand slam to Mike Yastrzemski. He entered Thursday's game with a 5.17 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, a stunning fall for a reliever who posted a 2.18 ERA over 70 appearances last season.

Many Pirates fans have expressed hope that Santana will be one of the roster casualties with Harrington and Kelly being called up (though neither would be a notable improvement). More likely, the Pirates option someone like Cam Sanders, Brandan Bidois or even Hunter Stratton and continue trying to patch around the real problem.

Either way, this does not look like a confident bullpen solution. It looks like a team that waited too long to address an obvious weakness and is now hoping one high-octane arm and one struggling prospect can somehow stabilize the mess.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow