Pirates relief pitcher Dauri Moreta undergoes Tommy-John Surgery

One of the strengths that the Pittsburgh Pirates were supposed to have entering the 2024 season was a strong bullpen. Overall the relief corps should be fine, but they have suffered a few setbacks already. David Bednar may not be ready for the regular season and the team saw Dauri Moreta leave an appearance early.

If you were watching this game then you knew that Moreta was not in a good place. After having a bit of a miserable inning, Moreta left the mound shaking his throwing arm. This is a sign that is usually not good and very telling of a serious injury. In general, his ERA was over 19, which again is usually pretty suggesting that something is not right.

Moreta was transferred to the 60 day Injured List when the team signed and had to make 40-man roster room for outfielder Michael A. Taylor. Many fans of the Pirates, including myself, figured that Moreta would be done for the year. Alex Stumpf, the Pirates mlb.com beat writer has confirmed that Moreta will be out for the remainder of the year.

However, the bad news does not just stop there for the Pirates, their bullpen, and Moreta.

Moreta actually had to undergo Tommy-John Surgery. This means that he will be out not just for this year but into the 2025 season as well. So overall this is not just hurting the bullpen this year but also the team's bullpen next year.

Moreta was acquired by the Pittsburgh Pirates last offseason when the team sent shortstop Kevin Newman to the Cincinatti Reds. Moreta had a really good first season with the Pirates. In 58 innings of work he had a 3.72 ERA. Even more impressive was the fact that he struck out 76 hitters in those innings as well. Moreta was key in putting fires out after being called in to pitch when an inning started to go sideways.