Pirates roster shakeup hits bullpen after Ryan O’Hearn signing becomes official

The Pittsburgh Pirates finally made it official with free-agent addition Ryan O’Hearn on Thursday — and the ripple effect was immediate.

To clear a 40-man roster spot for the veteran slugger, Pittsburgh designated reliever Chase Shugart for assignment, a move first reported by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It’s a reminder that every addition, even one meant to boost the offense, comes with a cost — and this time, the bullpen paid it.

Shugart wasn’t flashy, but he was functional. In his first real run of big-league action last year, the 29-year-old logged a 3.40 ERA over 45 innings, mostly in low-leverage spots. He didn’t miss many bats and didn’t generate many ground balls, but he did exactly what the Pirates asked for much of the first half: take the ball, protect leads late in games that were already decided, and keep the bullpen afloat.

That role matters more than it gets credit for, especially on a staff that leaned heavily on its relief group early in the season. But this wasn’t an indictment of Shugart as much as it was a numbers crunch. The Pirates needed a roster spot for O'Hearn, and Shugart was the most expendable option given his role, injury history, and lack of leverage usage down the stretch.

Once he returned from a midseason IL stint with knee inflammation last year, the Pirates quickly sent him to Triple-A. That told you where he stood on the depth chart.

Chase Shugart DFA suggests the bar has been raised in Pirates bullpen

In the short term, the Pirates are betting on upside and flexibility over a known-but-limited middle reliever. They’ve prioritized arms with higher strikeout ceilings and more late-inning potential, even if that comes with volatility. It’s a philosophical shift that’s been building all offseason –– and a necessary one.

Shugart, with a 94-95 mph fastball, a sweeper, and a cutter, profiles more as depth than difference-maker. Those pitchers are valuable, but they’re also the easiest to replace when roster math gets tight.

There’s a very real chance Shugart doesn’t clear waivers. A controllable reliever with a usable fastball mix, decent command, one minor-league option remaining, and recent MLB success is exactly the type of arm rebuilding or bullpen-needy teams take a flier on. If that happens, this will look less like the Pirates giving something away and more like the cost of doing business when you finally add offense.

This is what progress looks like. The Pirates added a legitimate major-league bat — something fans have been begging for — and had to make a real roster decision because of it. No paper moves. No phantom IL stints. An actual contributor was squeezed out.

That’s not bad roster management. That’s a sign the margins are getting tighter — and that the bar to stick in Pittsburgh's bullpen just got a little higher.