Pittsburgh Pirates: An Extremely Bold Mock Trade Proposal to Bolster the Rotation

The Pittsburgh Pirates need another starting pitcher, so let's look at this extremely bold mock trade proposal between them and the Seattle Mariners that would fill needs for both teams

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to acquire a starting pitcher who can be something more than a middle-of-the-rotation arm. It looks more and more likely that the Pirates are going to find that player on the trade market. One team that has a starter they could potentially trade is the Seattle Mariners. On paper, the two teams make great trade partners, so I want to look at an extremely bold trade proposal I came up with that would give both teams what they need.

Bryan Woo is the player heading back to the Pirates. The rookie right-hander had a 4.21 ERA, 4.36 FIP, and 1.21 WHIP through 87 innings. Woo had an above-average 25.1% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate, but his 1.33 HR/9 was slightly sub-par.

But he was great at limiting hard contact.

Woo was in the 82nd percentile of exit velocity (87.4 MPH), 83rd percentile of hard-hit rate (33.8%), and 77th percentile of barrel rate (6.3%). While batters had a .393 slugging percentage against him, his opposing xSLG percentage was .348, a drop of 45 points. That might not seem like a massive difference, but that’s the difference between Bryan Reynolds’ slugging percentage in 2023 and the league average slugging percentage.

Woo rated above average in the eyes of stuff+ at 103. His fastball sat in the mid-90s with above-average carry. Both his slider and cutter had well above average horizontal movement. His sinker was another pitch with some break to it. His change-up had below average break, but it was his least used pitch and was thrown less than 5% of the time. Woo’s velocity also plays up because of his release point. He was in the 82nd percentile of pitch release extension, which adds one whole MPH of velocity to his pitches.

Combined with his above-average ability to get strikeouts and limit walks and hard contact, Woo could see some improvement next year. While xFIP and SIERA said he pitched to his ERA, xERA (3.48) and DRA- (83, compared to his ERA- of 103) displayed that there could be a decent amount of improvement in 2024. Woo could see his HR/9 regress closer to the mean, if not better, based on his batted ball numbers and going from T-Mobile Park to PNC Park.