3 trade targets who could help fix the Pittsburgh Pirates' bullpen

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The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen has been one of the most disappointing pens in all of baseball. David Bednar got off to a horrible start, Aroldis Chapman has seemingly lost the strike zone, and Ryan Borcuki has been out for nearly the entire season with an undetermined ETA on his return. It also doesn’t help that Dauri Moreta, who was very solid for the Pirates last year, had Tommy John surgery before the season even started.

While Bednar has been better lately and Colin Holderman has been great all year, there is a significant lack of reliable depth. Luckily, bullpens are typically one of the easiest things to fix in baseball. The market is usually deep, and there are always teams willing to listen to offers on their bullpen arms.

3 bullpen trade options for 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates

Andrew Nardi

The Miami Marlins showed they’re willing to listen to anyone and everyone when they sold Luis Arraez in early May to the San Diego Padres. While many would like to see the Pirates get closing pitcher Tanner Scott, I think the Pirates would be better off going after Andrew Nardi. A fellow left-hander in Miami’s bullpen, Nardi is younger, with a lot more contract control remaining.

After a breakout 2023 season, Nardi has followed that up with a 5.68 ERA and 1.42 WHIP in his first 19 innings of the season. But that ERA is slightly inflated by things outside Nardi’s control. There are many positives, like his 28.9% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. His HR/9 went from 1.10 last year to 0.47 this year. He is in the 72nd percentile of barrel rate at 5.9%.

Miami’s defense has let Nardi down. I’m not going to sit here and lie and act like the Pirates have the best defense in the world, but compared to the Marlins’ gloves, the Pirates might as well have Gold Glovers around the diamond. Miami has -25 defensive runs saved and -18 outs above average, compared to the Pirates with +1 DRS and -11 OAA. Their poor defense has led to Nardi having a .380 batting average on balls in play.

Fielding independent and predictive stats like Nardi’s outlook. He has a 2.55 FIP and 3.51 xFIP. xERA puts him at 3.35, but SIERA is the most optimistic about Nardi moving forward at 2.99. Plus he's been better recently, only allowing one earned run during this month. There’s definitely a strong chance that Nardi rebounds on a better defensive team given all of this.

He is only 25 and doesn’t hit arbitration until after next season. He won’t reach free agency until after the 2028 campaign. It might not be cheap to acquire Nardi, as good left-handed relievers aren’t easy to find, but it would be worth it. Nardi could be a long-term cog in the Pirates’ bullpen.

Michael Kopech

Michael Kopech struggled severely as a starting pitcher in 2023. The Chicago White Sox opted to use him out of the bullpen this year, and it’s worked great so far. Kopech has been very solid, and has seen a massive uptick in fastball velocity since moving to a smaller workload. He is someone who could definitely be on the trading block within the next few weeks.

Kopech owns a 3.18 ERA, 4.28 FIP, and 1.24 WHIP through 22.2 innings. He has struck out just over a third of the batters he’s faced, with a 33.7% strikeout rate with a respectable 1.19 HR/9. Kopech has always struggled to limit free passes, and 2024 is no exception. He has a 14.7% BB%.

The move to the pen has done a lot to improve Kopech’s stuff. He averaged 95.2 MPH with his fastball as a starter last year, but is now averaging 98.9 MPH. His fastball has gained a ton of ride as well, with 13.1 inches of drop last year compared to 9.8 inches this year. His slider has also gained just over an inch of horizontal break, and he’s now throwing a low-90s cutter that’s induced an xwOBA of .182.

In terms of Stuff+, a stat that says how good a pitcher’s offerings are based on velo, movement, release point, and spin, while on the same scale as something like OPS+ or wRC+, Kopech has gone from 108 as a starter to 145. That is the third highest in the league behind Mason Miller and Emmanuel Clase.

Kopech is controlled through the 2025 season. He’s someone who could help reinforce the bullpen next year, too. With the White Sox likely looking to sell, Kopech will definitely be someone who has rumors surrounding him. The Pirates should definitely check in on his market.

Hunter Harvey

Hunter Harvey was one of the best pitching prospects in the mid-late 2010s. He was a first-round pick by the Baltimore Orioles, but he never seemed to be able to stay healthy long and barely pitched from 2015 through 2018. After bouncing around on waivers, he finally landed with the Washington Nationals in 2022, and since then, he’s quietly become one of the better relievers in the game.

In 2024, Harvey has a 2.63 ERA, 2.22 FIP, and 1.04 WHIP through 24 innings. His 29.5% strikeout rate is currently a career-best, but he’s elite at limiting walks. Harvey has just a 6.5% walk rate.

In addition to keeping free passes of the base paths, Harvey is having a career year at limiting home runs. His HR/9 is 0.53. The right-hander’s ground ball rate is above 50% at 53.3%, which has helped him post a 1.7% barrel rate. Harvey has always been susceptible to hard-hit baseballs and has allowed an 89.8 MPH exit velo this year, but inducing that many ground balls limits just how impactful many of those hard-hit batted balls are.

Harvey can fool batters easily. He has a 34.7% chase rate. He also induces a decent amount of swings and misses, with a 28.4% whiff rate. Harvey throws hard, averaging 97.8 MPH with his four-seam fastball. Both his splitter and curveball have a swing-and-miss rate of over 30%. He also mixes in a slider, and even that has a decent 27.3% whiff rate. Harvey is simply a good strikeout pitcher.

Harvey is under control through 2025. The Nationals could use some young pitching that’s closer to being MLB-ready. According to MLB Pipeline, they only have one top pitching prospect who isn’t 20 or younger. A trade between the Pirates, where they get Harvey, and the Nats, where they get one or two of the Pirates’ top pitching prospects, could definitely work.

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3 bullpen trade options for 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates

Andrew Nardi

Michael Kopech

Hunter Harvey

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