What the Andrew Heaney addition could mean for these two Pirates starters

Entering the offseason, the Pirates biggest strength was their starting pitching. That allowed them to trade Luis Ortiz for a first baseman that Pittsburgh desperately needed, which really did not hurt their depth as much as people seem to be arguing. Now, just about a week into spring training, the Pirates have added a new starting pitcher to the group in Andrew Heaney, further emphasizing that depth advantage.

Obviously, given the deep group they have in the majors - and even at Triple-A - adding another starting pitcher was not necessary. In fact, the move sets up a block for both Johan Oviedo and Bailey Falter. Still, that may be for the better; the Pirates need to be careful with Oviedo coming back from injury, and there are multiple possible scenarios at play for Falter.

With all this in mind, let's take a look at what the future may hold for these two pieces of the Pirates' roster.

Pirates may have set plans for Johan Oviedo and Bailey Falter following the Andrew Heaney pickup.

The Pirates likely plan on taking things slow with Oviedo's rehab. The Pirates can put him into the long relief role that Ortiz held to start last season in order to limit his innings count. Of course, once Ortiz started performing well, he was given a rotation spot after all.

When Oviedo is healthy, he can be very effective. In 2023, he posted an ERA of 4.31 with a FIP of 4.49 and a WHIP of 1.37. He brings a strong arsenal, including two breaking balls that produced an 18 run value, ranking in the 98th percentile. His health is very important, so limiting his innings would be wise.

Falter comes with a few more possibilities. It seems like there is a strong chance that Bubba Chandler has a spring like Jared Jones did last year, at which point he'd enter the MLB starting rotation. That would make five, so Falter would have to get pushed to the bullpen. That does not look like it would work, considering Oviedo is likely going to be in that long relief role. The odds that the Pirates would roster two of those are very slim. Joey Wentz is the only guy in the projected bullpen that should be demoted, so there's only one slot available for that long reliever.

So what does that mean? Will Oviedo be in Triple-A to build up his innings? That probably wouldn't work, given that Thomas Harrington, Braxton Ashcraft, Po-Yu Chen, Mike Burrows, and Carson Fulmer are all likely to fill out the rotation in Triple-A - as long as Chandler starts in the MLB. If he is in Triple-A to start, Falter would be the fifth guy in the big-league rotation.

The interesting remaining possibility involves trading Falter to fill out holes on the roster. His contract is very reasonable, especially for a backend rotation guy. A trade, at this point, definitely feels very realistic as well; Falter is controlled through 2028.

A trade would be very fun and beneficial for this team, but the Pirates obviously need to be careful with Oviedo. Adding Heaney obviously makes it seem that they are not eager to throw him directly in the rotation, but the move is definitely more confusing for Falter.