Pittsburgh Pirates: Still Work To Be Done With the Starting Rotation

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.