Pittsburgh Pirates Continuing to Pursue Starting Rotation Help

According to MLB Network's Jon Morosi the Pittsburgh Pirates are still in search of starting pitching depth

Spring training is quickly approaching for the Pittsburgh Pirates. On Wednesday, pitchers and catchers will report to Bradenton and with that spring training 2024 will be underway.

While the start of spring training is right around the corner, the Pirates continue to have roster needs to address. The biggest of these is what their biggest need has been the entire offseason - starting pitching. Well, according to Jon Morosi, the Pirates are still looking for starting rotation help.

According to Morosi, the Pirates are a club still looking for more starting rotation depth/help. Two of the names the team is monitoring are free agents Noah Syndergaard and Michael Lorenzen.

Syndergaard is a name that has been tied to the Pirates for a few weeks now. He also continues to be an arm the Pirates should stay away from. Dating back to the 2020 season Syndergaard has battled multiple injuries and, when healthy, has not pitched effectively.

He is coming off the worst season of his MLB career. In 18 starts last season, Syndergaard posted a career worst 6.50 ERA and 6.20 FIP. His -1.1 WAR was also a career worst for the one time perrenial All-Star.

As for Lorenzen, he would likely be a worthwhile addition for the Pirates. While Syndergaard is coming off the worst season of his career Lorenzen is coming off the best season he has had as a starting pitcher.

Last season, Lorenzen posted a 4.18 ERA and a 4.46 FIP in 153 innings across 29 appearances, 25 of which were starts. For Lorenzen, both the 25 starts and 153 innings pitched were new career highs while his 2.0 WAR was the second best of his career.

Adding Lorenzen would improve the Pirate starting rotation. As currently constructed, he would be the team's second best starting pitcher behind Mitch Keller. When it comes to Syndergaard, the team would likely be better suited giving those innings/starts to a young arm such as Roansy Contreras, Luis Ortiz, or Quinn Priester who may still ahve some additional upside in the tank.