Two internal options who could factor into the Pittsburgh Pirates' 2025 bullpen

Though the team entered the season with high expectations for the unit, Pittsburgh's 2024 bullpen ended up being one of the primary reasons the Pirates underperformed. The wheels started to fall off before the season even began. Dauri Moreta underwent Tommy John surgery halfway through Spring Training. Then Ryan Borucki hit the IL in early April and wouldn’t return until August. David Bednar’s command was inconsistent at best, and he may have even been tipping his pitches. Aroldis Chapman has had very high peaks but very low valleys, and Colin Holderman essentially forgot how to pitch for a whole month.

Carmen Mlodzinski and Kyle Nicolas have been two of the very few pitchers who have been consistently solid out of the bullpen, and Dennis Santana has been a huge surprise. The Pirates will almost certainly be on the lookout for more relievers this offseason, but they do have some arms in the system who could factor into their 2025 bullpen plans.

Jaden Woods

Jaden Woods was one of the many pitchers the Pirates took in the 2023 draft. Selected in the seventh round out of the University of Georgia, Woods ranked as the 152nd best prospect in the draft according to Baseball America, and he definitely flashed the potential of being a solid left-handed reliever this summer.

Woods opened the year with a 2.13 ERA, 3.68 FIP, and 1.22 WHIP in 25.1 innings for Greensboro. He struck out nearly 30% of his opponents, with a 29% K%, while posting a quality 0.78 HR/9 rate. Woods’ walk rate was the worst part of his profile, as he handed out a free pass 10.3% of the time to High-A batters.

All told, though, his performance earned him a promotion to Double-A Altoona. The 4.93 ERA and 1.44 FIP he posted at that level aren’t as bad as they look. Woods kept up a strong 27% strikeout rate while maintaining a near identical 10.7% walk rate and 0.78 HR/9. Woods’ ground ball rate rose from 39.3% to 45.7%, and he had both a sub-4.00 FIP (3.85) and xFIP (3.94).

Woods displays two good pitches with his four-seam fastball and his slider. His fastball sits in the 92-96 MPH range in shorter stints out of the bullpen. Woods’ breaking pitch comes in around the upper-70s. He’ll occasionally throw a changeup, but he is mainly a fastball/slider type of pitcher.

The Pirates have no left-handed relievers under control for the 2025 campaign. Woods turns 23 in February and has already shown some potential in the upper levels of the minor leagues. The Pirates should at least consider giving him a chance to win a bullpen spot of out spring training next year.

Mike Burrows

When the Pirates went into the 2023 season, Mike Burrows looked like a potential rotation option for later on in the year. Unfortunately, Burrows’ season came to an abrupt end in early April when he underwent Tommy John surgery. Rehabilitated and ready to produce, Burrows is now back in action, and could definitely find himself in the Pirates’ bullpen to open the 2025 campaign.

Burrows has pitched 32.2 innings in his return to Indianapolis. He has worked to a 3.86 ERA, but a less impressive 1.44 WHIP and 4.79 FIP. He has a 23.6% strikeout rate and 8.8% walk rate, but has struggled to limit home runs and has a 1.38 HR/9. While the numbers might be mixed, his stuff has looked good.

Burrows’ fastball is sitting 94.5 MPH with 13.7 inches of drop and 8.3 inches of break. His upper-80s slider has induced a whiff rate of 38.3% with nearly 28 inches of drop. Burrows’ high-spin curveball has about 55 inches of drop and sits in the upper-70s. The right-hander’s changeup has come a long way to become a viable fourth pitch, sporting about 14 inches of break and an impressive 50% whiff rate.

Burrows is already on the 40-man roster, so he has a shot of earning an Opening Day roster spot out of camp next year. Burrows could work in a similar role to the one Luis Ortiz started in, working mostly as a long reliever. After getting his workload built back up, the Pirates could begin to give him some starts if the need arises.