What's Next For Pirates After Relatively Quiet Deadline?

As for Bailey Falter, he is 0-7 this season with a 5.13 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched. That being said, the Pirates need innings, and they don't have much help in the upper minor league levels anymore after Quinn Priester's promotion. Jared Jones seems to be next up, but he was only promoted to Indy from Altoona about a month and a half ago, so it doesn't seem like we'll see him apart from maybe a brief cameo in September as we did with Roansy Contreras in 2021. Perhaps the Pirates saw something that made them think they can revert Falter closer to his 2022 form, where he was much better with a 3.86 ERA and 74 Ks/17 BB in 84 innings.

All in all, the remainder of 2023 needs to be all about finding out who should be sticking around for next year and what positions need to be attacked in the off-season. We already know starting pitching and first base will be at the top of the Pirates' needs heading into 2024, but they should be figuring out who else on the current roster can be counted on for consistent production going forward.

Who will be the everyday second baseman when Cruz returns? Will Jack Suwinski continue to improve against lefties or is he strictly a platoon player? Other than David Bednar, who else can be a mainstay in the bullpen (Carmen Mlodzinski has been very impressive thus far)? These are some of the things the Pirates should be looking to find answers to as it will affect how they attack the offseason and free agency.

The Pittsburgh Pirates didn't trade Mitch Keller and David Bednar which means they aren't kicking the can down the road any further, but they need to build onto this young group and attack the other areas of need if they wish to be competitive in 2024 and beyond.