Solving the Pirates' most baffling roster and lineup decisions of 2025

To say that the Pittsburgh Pirates’ roster construction is baffling would be an understatement. For a team that says they want to win, it's wild how big a gap exists between what they have on their roster vs. what they could have to improve it, solely based on internal options.

The reality of who they decide to pencil into the lineup every night has also been very confusing. Watching such a promising core of young players get wasted game after game is disheartening. If the Pirates truly care about winning more, they should make up for their actions and start making some roster and lineup changes before it’s too late.

For starters, acquiring Alexander Canario in the first place made zero sense for a team that is so hyper-focused on cost-cutting by any means necessary. For one, the Pirates are taking on all of Canario’s salary, which is the league minimum, but the Pirates also sent the NY Mets cash for the outfielder. On top of that unnecessary expense, it’s not as if Canario is lighting the world on fire. He has just five hits in 45 plate appearances. Sure, he has some good raw power, with a 91.4 MPH exit velocity and 77.5 MPH bat speed, but his whiff rate of 40.5% in a Pirates uniform approaches that of Joey Gallo for his career at 41.4%.

The Pirates have already called up a better alternative in Matt Gorski. He already has two extra-base hits in only 19 plate appearances. Sure, Gorski’s game isn’t perfect either, but he’s a big step forward from Canario. Gorski has swing and miss in his game as well, but at 32.5%, he’s nearly 10% better than Canario. His bat speed is also elite at 75.6 MPH. He’s a much faster runner as well, ranking in the 85th percentile of sprint speed. Gorski is also considered an above-average defender at all three outfield positions, as well as first base.

Pirates must add Matt Gorski to lineup - and make other obvious changes, too

Unfortunately, the Pirates don’t see Gorski as a better fit, giving him just as much playing time as Canario since he was promoted. Both have 19 plate appearances since Gorski made his MLB debut. If they wanted a right-handed bat to complement Gorski, they could have promoted Billy Cook. This would have allowed them to bring up a more promising option without having to go through the hassle of a trade or surrendering money. They would've gotten the chance to promote a player making just the league minimum.

Another confounding decision was the call to keep Colin Holderman in the major leagues. Holderman struggled badly during the second half of last season, allowing 11 earned runs in only 13.2 innings, walking seven, and striking out just 10. So far into 2025, the right-hander has allowed at least one earned run in seven of 10 total appearances. He’s dished out seven free passes in only 10.2 total innings pitched, and has allowed a whopping three home runs. His exit velocity and barrel rate are in the gutter, at 90.5 MPH and 11.8%, respectively.

The Pirates have plenty of pitching prospects who could overtake Holderman in the bullpen. Mike Burrows has had persistent durability issues over the last two years. He’s a prime candidate to move to the bullpen, and he’s already made his MLB debut. Burrows has opened the year with a 3.18 ERA in 22.2 innings with 25 strikeouts and only eight walks allowed. Another top prospect with durability questions is Braxton Ashcraft. While his 4.73 ERA may not be pretty, he has still struck out 33 in 32.1 innings. So far, innings one and two have been his best frames, with only a 3.21 ERA, 17 strikeouts, and six walks in 14 innings to open his appearances. Ashcraft is also on the 40-man roster.

Leaving Carmen Mlodzinski in a starting pitching role is yet another poor decision. Mlodzinski was a reliever in his 2023 rookie season and his 2024 sophomore campaign. He was effective, too. While Mlodzinski wanted to try his hand at starting, it’s clear it’s not working out very well.

He hasn't allowed an earned run through the first two innings of any of his starts. Opponents have a meager .276 wOBA against Mlodzinski when facing him for the first time. However, when opponents face him a second time, their wOBA skyrockets to .478. For reference, Aaron Judge led all MLB last season in wOBA at .476. Maikel Garcia had the lowest qualified mark in 2024 at .270. 

This is a prime opportunity for the Pirates to improve both the bullpen and the rotation at the same time. Top prospect Bubba Chandler has nothing left to prove at Triple-A. He’s kicked off the year striking out nearly 40 opponents at a 39.6% rate and inducing ground balls well over 50% of the time at a 55.6% clip. He has held opposing lineups to an ERA of just 1.42. Moving Mlodzinski to the pen would let the Pirates demote Holderman to Triple-A, and keep both Burrows and Ashcraft stretched out.

The Pirates also have way too many light-hitting utility men on the roster. At the time of writing this, they currently have Adam Frazier, Jared Triolo, and Liover Peguero on the 26-man roster. The Pirates could definitely do better than this. At least one of these bench/platoon roles should currently be occupied by Nick Yorke. Sure, Yorke hasn’t lit the league on fire to open 2025, but he’s still a top-10 prospect in the system, showed some promise in a late-season cameo last year, and led Triple-A hitters in 2024 in multiple stats. 

Both Nick Gonzales and Spencer Horwitz returning will help thin out this glut of light-hitting infielders, adding two players who entered the year projected as starters held back by injuries. However, it shouldn’t have taken this long, nor should it take the return of two key pieces for the Pirates to make a better decision with this segment of the roster.

Nobody should expect any front office to press the right buttons every single time. But it’s frustrating, discouraging, and outright sad to see a Pirates team operate with the better, untested choice staring management in the face. Instead of acting, the Pirates continue to balk at new choices in favor of the wrong decision.

It’s even more upsetting with the sort of core the Pirates do have.