Pirates pitching strategy shift is here and fans aren’t sure what to think

The plan wasn’t hidden. It wasn’t whispered behind closed doors in Bradenton or dressed up in vague spring clichés.

Don Kelly literally told us.

The Pittsburgh Pirates were always going to get unconventional with their pitching staff in 2026 — especially behind Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller. Now, barely two weeks into the season, that vision isn’t theoretical anymore. It’s here. And fans aren’t quite sure what to do with it.

Wednesday’s decision to use Mason Montgomery as an opener — with the goal of navigating the top of the Washington Nationals lineup before turning things over to Carmen Mlodzinski — is the clearest signal yet.

Montgomery, acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays in the Brandon Lowe deal, is exactly the type of arm this model is built for. Upper-90s velocity from the left side. Breaking stuff that misses bats at elite rates. A profile that can overwhelm hitters in short bursts without the expectation of turning over a lineup two or three times.

On paper, the opener strategy makes sense. Limit exposure. Maximize matchups. Keep hitters uncomfortable. In practice, Pirates fans see something else: a bullpen that already feels fragile… being asked to do even more.

Through 17 games, Pittsburgh’s relief corps has a 3.91 ERA — not disastrous, but hardly reassuring when you consider how it’s being used. This isn’t a group that’s locking games down with authority. It’s one still searching for consistency.

So when you hear “opener,” what fans hear is "more innings for a shaky bullpen." Because philosophically, this is forward-thinking. But emotionally? It feels like a gamble layered on top of an existing concern.

Pirates beginning to lean into unconventional pitching strategy laid out by Don Kelly

It's worth reiterating that Kelly didn’t stumble into this. He didn’t pivot because of injuries or desperation. He laid this out in the spring — a staff built on flexibility, not rigid roles.

Having traditional starters behind Skenes and Keller was never really the plan. Instead, the Pirates are trying to create constant matchup advantages instead of predictable sequencing. It’s less about who starts and more about how you get 27 outs — and that’s a real philosophical shift for a franchise that, for years, has tried to develop and lean on conventional rotation pieces.

The upside is real. If this works, it protects young arms. It shortens exposure for pitchers the third time through the order. It allows Pittsburgh to weaponize its best stuff in the highest-leverage pockets of a game — even if that comes in the first inning instead of the ninth.

That said, this approach asks a lot. It asks relievers to handle unpredictable workloads, managers to hit the right buttons nightly, and a bullpen to hold up physically over 162 games. And most importantly, it asks fans to trust something that doesn’t look like what they’re used to.

Baseball, maybe more than any other sport, is built on rhythm and expectation. Starters go deep. Bullpens close. Roles are defined. The Pirates are blurring all of that. So the uncertainty is fair.

There’s reason to be intrigued — Montgomery’s stuff is electric, and the idea of optimizing matchups is rooted in real analytics. There’s also reason to be skeptical — this bullpen hasn’t earned blind trust, and the margin for error with unconventional strategies is thin. Both things can be true at once.

This is what 2026 was always going to look like. The only question now is whether this bold, uncomfortable shift becomes a competitive advantage or just another experiment that leaves fans wondering why it never quite worked.

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