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Pittsburgh Pirates: Still Work To Be Done With the Starting Rotation
Trading for Marco Gonzalez improves the starting rotation, but more works needs to be done
While trading for lefty Marco Gonzlaes improves the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation, there is still more work to be done for Ben Cherington
Tuesday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates bolstered their starting rotation via trade. The team acquired lefty Marco Gonzales from the Atlanta Braves for a player to be named later. You can read more about Gonzales and that trade here.
Adding Gonzales to the starting rotation is a good start to addressing the team's starting rotation needs by general manager Ben Cherington. When healthy, Gonzales is a solid middle of the rotation arm.
Prior to being limited to just 10 games last season due to a forearm issue, Gonzales owned a 4.08 ERA and a 4.41 FIP in 843 MLB innings pitched. This included a 6.2% walk rate and a 17.6% strikeout rate. Again, strong middle of the rotation numbers, especially for a lefty at PNC Park. But, there is more work to be done.
Gonzales joins Mitch Keller as the only healthy, proven MLB starting pitchers on the Pirate 40-man roster. If the Pirates are going to take a step forward in 2024 and look to contend for the postseason, there is still plenty of work to be done with the starting rotation.
What could be next?
One name to keep an eye on moving forward is veteran righty Jack Flaherty. According to reports, the Pirates are in pursuit of the righty. Flaherty would be a good fit with the Bucs and would provide a boost to the starting rotation.
The Pirates could also continue to look to the trade market. According to soruces within the indsutry we have spoken with, the Pirates have been in contact with the Miami Marlins to discuss trading for one of their surplus of starting pitchers.
No matter where the help comes from, the Pirates still need to add starting pitching. If the season started today, Bailey Falter, Roansy Contreras, and Luis Ortiz would all be in the team's MLB starting rotation.
Not only should no more than tow, if not one, of these three start the season in the major league starting rotation, all of that is also a blow the organization's starting pitching depth. Adding more starting pitching help not only improves the MLB roster, but it also deepens the rotation by allowing arms such as Falter, Contreras, or Ortiz to begin the season at Triple-A Indianapolis.
Heller signed. Pirates Sign Ben Heller. dark. Next