Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Pitchers Who Had a Strong September

Reliever Dauri Moreta

We have previously covered the strong finish to the season for Dauri Moreta, but it’s still worth mentioning again. After rejoining the Pirates in late September Moreta was dominant, leading to him finishing the season with a 3.72 ERA, 2.93 FIP, 10.0% walk rate, and a 31.8% strikeout.

Moreta was re-called to the majors on September 23rd and immediately was inserted back into a key role in the Pirate bullpen. Pitching mostly in high leverage situations, Moreta logged 7 innings in 5 September outings.

In these 7 innings pitched, Moreta did not allow a hit on his way to posting a 0.00 ERA and a 0.40 FIP. Moreta did not issue a walk and struck out 10 batters (43.5% strikeout rate) while making batters look silly.

He had a strong 53.8% ground ball rate in September, induced soft contact at a 23.1% clip, and did not allow a single line drive. Not even a line drive out. He generated a 17.9% swinging strike rate and 34% of pitches thrown outside the strike zone were swung at. Moreta’s stuff looked absolutely filthy during the month of September.

With his strong, bounce back performance in September Moreta has likely locked up a spot in the team’s Opening Day bullpen in 2024. That is not something that was a given, or close to it, prior to his strong September.