Pirates fans won’t love Ben Cherington’s plan to fix the bullpen

It's becoming clearer and clearer by the day that if the Pittsburgh Pirates are serious about competing in 2026, they're going to have to do something about their bullpen. Through May 15, the unit is hovering right around league average with a 4.05 ERA, which ranks 15th in the MLB. More than just the raw numbers, a few specific trends have emerged.

If you're a left-handed reliever in Pittsburgh's pen, chances are you've been having a pretty good season. Gregory Soto has been dominant in the ninth, and both Mason Montgomery and Evan Sisk have shown out as well. Each member of that trio has an ERA below 3.00 and a strikeout rate above 30%. The right-handers, on the other hand, have been the problem.

Ben Cherington has a plan. Sort of. He expects the unit to get better over time.

"That’s an area we know needs to improve for us to win at the level we need to,” Cherington said. “Believe in the guys in that group. Believe they’re capable of performing more consistently, better than we’ve seen the last two or three weeks.

“There’s no shortage of effort or accountability. They’re working on things. There’s a plan for all of them. We know to be the team we want to be, we have to get more consistent performance out of the bullpen.”

There are many flaws with that strategy. Relievers are volatile, especially ones without much of a track record, like the arms that make up the Pirates' pen. Furthermore, this "hopes and dreams" philosophy smacks of the Pirates of old. Lastly, it seems as if they're moving in the wrong direction after blowing a big lead in the series opener against the Philadelphia Phillies, wasting another excellent Braxton Ashcraft start in the process.

The solutions for the Pirates' bullpen don't need to be difficult or expensive, but moves need to be made

There are two prime roles that need to be improved upon. The first is finding a new right-handed setup man. Dennis Santana seemed to have a breakout season last year, but the 30-year-old has struggled to repeat this season, walking batters at an 11.1% clip while generating strikeouts at a paltry 12.3% rate. He's only posted one season since 2020 with an ERA under 4.00, which came last year.

Replacing Santana in the late innings will be the most expensive move that Cherington needs to make, but it's still cheaper than having to go out and get a closer. Making a move here might also help the unit overall if Santana can thrive in a lower-leverage role.

The next issue is the right-handed portion of the middle relief equation. During spring training, it looked like the Pirates might get some pleasant surprises from Isaac Mattson and Justin Lawrence here, but neither has been good. Lawrence in particular has had the worst results, though Mattson's peripherals point to him being the worst performer of the pair.

The good news is that righties that can handle middle relief roles aren't particularly expensive on the trade market. Sure, you always pay more at the deadline due to the urgency to close the year strong, but there are always veterans on expiring deals that rebuilding clubs have to face losing for nothing in the offseason, versus getting something of value in July, even if it isn't much.

Lastly, getting a capable innings eater in long relief would be nice. This is more of a luxury, but it's also a cheap acquisition overall. The Pirates haven't had much luck with the kind of arms that can come in and clean up a mess while giving the offense the runway to fight its way back into the game.

Some of these issues can be addressed by internal options. Cherington isn't wrong about that. We're not going to sit here and tout Chris Devenski as a solution, but a temporary layover in the bullpen for Jared Jones as he works his way back from elbow surgery makes sense. Getting another look at Wilber Dotel as a reliever isn't a bad idea either.

That doesn't change the fact that the Pirates probably still need two more relievers. One from the right side who can handle high-leverage and another (preferably right-handed) veteran for the middle innings. Do that, and then Cherington can feel good about where he's at and hope for improvement from the rest. Stand pat, and he's squandering everything he built over the offseason.

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