Pirates somehow refuse to close door on clearly failed experiment

One of the factors that pushed the Pirates below .500 early in the season was keeping Carmen Mlodzinski in the starting rotation. He completely struggled in that role and was eventually optioned to Triple-A, where he actually did well as a starter. Despite that, the Pirates made the right switch and put him back in the bullpen, right where he belongs, the next time they elevated him to MLB. Still ... for whatever reason ... they are still leaving the door open to start again in the future.

“Carmen’s got a deep repertoire,” Pirates assistant general manager Steve Sanders stated on 93.7 The Fan this weekend upon his recall to the bigs. “He pounds the zone, he’s an intense competitor and I think that suits him well to start games, end games and pitch important innings in the middle. Right now, we’re just going to use him to help us win games in any way that we can.”

His 5.67 ERA as a starter was apparently not enough evidence for the Pirates to decide to keep him in the bullpen long-term. He was a successful young reliever in 2023 and 2024, entering in high-leverage situations from an early age. The decision to put him in the rotation this spring was very bold, given his success out of the 'pen and the surplus of starting pitching in this organization. Starting was something Mlodzinski wanted to pursue, though, and Ben Cherington caved in, giving him the opportunity to do so in 2025. It netted him a demotion.

When he was brought back up, Mlodzinski had acquiesced a bit, wanting what was best for the team. He accepted being in the bullpen, if that's what Pittsburgh needs. He wasn't told that this starter experiment was over, though, so there is still a chance he starts in the future.

“They didn't say, 'Hey, you're a reliever the rest of your life,' Mlodzinski revealed in an article by Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. "It was, 'We want our best pitchers in the big leagues,' which I understand. Whatever that role is, I'm going to have to take it and do it the best I can."

Pirates still leaving the door open for Carmen Mlodzinski to start, despite failed experiment.

Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Bubba Chandler, Bailey Falter, Mike Burrows, and Braxton Ashcraft are all starting pitching options that are under contract for at least the next three seasons. There really is no reason for them to force Mlodzinski into a starting role with the amount of arms they have to work with, especially since he has failed in the role.

He has requested to the organization multiple times that he would like to start, and they granted his wish. Unfortunately for him, it just didn't work out, and the Pirates should have just ended it now, rather than leaving a switch on the table for the future. The bullpen is consistently hit or miss, and removing a reliable arm in Mlodzinski was a big mistake. Doing it twice would hurt the organization badly in the future.