Reliever Ryan Borucki
Few players were a bigger pleasant surprise for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2023 than left-handed reliever Ryan Borucki. The unexpected success of Borucki continued in September, as he likely locked up his spot in the team's Opening Day bullpen for next season.
Borucki made 13 appearances for the Pirates in September pitching 12 innings. In these 12 innings, he did not allowed a run while allowing just 5 hits, walking a batter, and striking out 6. He had a strong 53% ground ball rate and did a masterful job of stranding inherited runners.
The lefty allowed hard contact at just a 20.6% clip, to go with a strong 29.4% soft contact rate and limiting opposing batters to just a 5.9% line drive rate. Throw in an average opposing exit velocity of just 83.6 MPH, and it's easy to see why Borucki had a strong month. Opposing batters simply could not barrel the ball against him.
The strong month of September capped off a tcareer year for Borucki. In a career high 38 games, he pitched a career high 40.1 innings while posting a career low 2.45 ERA and 3.50 FIP. His control was impeccable with a 2.6% walk rate, to go with a 21.7% strikeout rate and an opponent's batting average against of just .181.