As Ben Cherington sat in the dugout tonight at loanDepot Park here in Miami, he said the Pirates were done making roster moves, "barring something unforeseen." He followed that by announcing that Ryan Borucki and Joey Wentz had earned the last two spots in the bullpen, while he had informed Peter Strzelecki that he would be designated for assignment.
So, as the Pirates prepare for their 144th season, this is what their opening day roster will look like:
Starting rotation: Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, Bailey Falter, Carmen Mlodzinski.
Bullpen: David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Colin Holderman, Ryan Borucki, Caleb Ferguson, Tim Mayza, Joey Wentz, Justin Lawrence
Catchers: Joey Bart, Endy Rodriguez
Infielders: Jared Triolo, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Gonzales, Adam Frazier
Outfielders: Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Tommy Pham, Jack Suwinski, Ji Hwan Bae
DH: Andrew McCutchen
Most of it was expected, but some of it was not. One thing that stands out? The Pirates will start the season with four left-handers in the bullpen -- Borucki, Wentz, Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza.
"It is a lot of lefties, but we also don’t mind that with where we play," Cherington said. "We also felt that, generally speaking, we feel pretty good about the right-hand bullpen depth in Triple-A to start the season. So we feel pretty good that we have some right-handed options that we can go to if we need to."
Ferguson and Mayza were two free-agency additions this offseason. Mayza is looking to regain his 2023 form, where he recorded a 1.52 ERA in 53 1/3 innings of work, and is seen to be the lefty specialist of this group. Ferguson can work in multiple different roles as he has pitched as a starter, an opener, a long reliever and has worked in leverage situations as well.
Both Borucki and Wentz finished the 2024 season with the Pirates. Borucki elected to test free agency this offseason but returned on a non-roster invite and performed well this spring, as he recorded a 0.93 ERA in 9 2/3 innings of work while striking out 14. Wentz also put together a decent spring but finished strong with his best three outings of the last two months. In four innings of work, he allowed two hits, no runs and struck out nine batters.
"We really like the way he finished spring training. He’s in a good spot with his command; he’s attacking," Cherington said. "The length potential that he provides, ya know, maybe a little bit more than Strz where Strz is a little bit more of a shorter lane type of pitcher. That length, we felt, could benefit us early in the season."
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
10:33 pm - 03.26.2025MiamiFour lefties make final roster cut
As Ben Cherington sat in the dugout tonight at loanDepot Park here in Miami, he said the Pirates were done making roster moves, "barring something unforeseen." He followed that by announcing that Ryan Borucki and Joey Wentz had earned the last two spots in the bullpen, while he had informed Peter Strzelecki that he would be designated for assignment.
So, as the Pirates prepare for their 144th season, this is what their opening day roster will look like:
Starting rotation: Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, Bailey Falter, Carmen Mlodzinski.
Bullpen: David Bednar, Dennis Santana, Colin Holderman, Ryan Borucki, Caleb Ferguson, Tim Mayza, Joey Wentz, Justin Lawrence
Catchers: Joey Bart, Endy Rodriguez
Infielders: Jared Triolo, Ke’Bryan Hayes, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Nick Gonzales, Adam Frazier
Outfielders: Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds, Tommy Pham, Jack Suwinski, Ji Hwan Bae
DH: Andrew McCutchen
Most of it was expected, but some of it was not. One thing that stands out? The Pirates will start the season with four left-handers in the bullpen -- Borucki, Wentz, Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza.
"It is a lot of lefties, but we also don’t mind that with where we play," Cherington said. "We also felt that, generally speaking, we feel pretty good about the right-hand bullpen depth in Triple-A to start the season. So we feel pretty good that we have some right-handed options that we can go to if we need to."
Ferguson and Mayza were two free-agency additions this offseason. Mayza is looking to regain his 2023 form, where he recorded a 1.52 ERA in 53 1/3 innings of work, and is seen to be the lefty specialist of this group. Ferguson can work in multiple different roles as he has pitched as a starter, an opener, a long reliever and has worked in leverage situations as well.
Both Borucki and Wentz finished the 2024 season with the Pirates. Borucki elected to test free agency this offseason but returned on a non-roster invite and performed well this spring, as he recorded a 0.93 ERA in 9 2/3 innings of work while striking out 14. Wentz also put together a decent spring but finished strong with his best three outings of the last two months. In four innings of work, he allowed two hits, no runs and struck out nine batters.
"We really like the way he finished spring training. He’s in a good spot with his command; he’s attacking," Cherington said. "The length potential that he provides, ya know, maybe a little bit more than Strz where Strz is a little bit more of a shorter lane type of pitcher. That length, we felt, could benefit us early in the season."
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