Pittsburgh Pirates: Three Pitchers Who Had a Strong September

These three pitchers put together a strong September pitching out of the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen

Earlier this week, we took a look at three hitters who had a strong month of September for the Pittsburgh Pirates. As we continue to put a bow on a 2023 season that saw a 14 win imrpovement for the Pirates, we will now look at three pitchers who had a strong month of September.

Unfortunately, there were not any Pirate starters who finished the month strong. Mitch Keller and Johan Oviedo looked like two guys running out of gas in a season with a new career high in starts and innings pitched for both, Bailey Falter struggled, and the season long struggles of Luis Ortiz and Quinn Priester continued.

However, there were plenty of success stories out of the Pirates bullpen in September. To be honest, there were more than three and that was a big reason why the Pirates put together a nice September to finish the season. Today, however, we will just be focusing on three of the strongest performances.

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.

Reliever David Bednar

Throughout the season David Bednar was one of the best relief pitchers in all of baseball. That continued into the month of September as The Renegade put together a strong final month to cap off his second consecutive All-Star campaign.

Bednar made 13 appearances in September, pitching 12.1 innings. He posted a 1.46 ERA while allowing 8 hits, a home run, walking 9.8% of batters faced, and posting a strong 33.3% strikeout rate. He also picked up 10 saves along the way, to finish the season tied for the National League lead in saves with 39.  

In September, Bednar was also named the Pirate recipient for the Roberto Clemente Award. This is something that had to be pretty cool, as well as being a great honor for the Pittsburgh native. It will likely go down as one of the most memorbale things Bednar will accponplish in his career.

Looking ahead to 2024, Bednar should once again be one of the best high-leverage bullpen arms in all of baseball. He should also anchor a Pirate bullpen that could be a strength for the Bucs next season.