David Bednar looks at his appearance last week in Fort Myers, Fla. against the Twins as just one of those days. He wasn't his best self and he realized that enough to make a few minor tweaks and do what he could to bounce back. In his last two appearances, he's done just that.
Despite the lack of defensive support on Saturday against the Orioles, Bednar pitched well and he followed that up today in the Pirates 3-2 win over the Phillies with a 1-2-3 inning that took just 13 pitches, nine of which were strikes.
"The last one, results-wise was whatever, but I was really happy with the shapes of my pitches," Bednar said. "Today was really nice to put it all together. I've got a couple more before the season starts. Just want to go in feeling strong."
Bednar threw five pitches to Garrett Stubbs to start off the fifth and got him to chase a high fastball for his first strikeout. He then got Christian Arroyo to ground out on an 0-2 curveball up in the zone. Cal Stevenson then watched a high 3-2 curveball that caught the top right corner of the strike zone on the sixth pitch of the at-bat.
It was ultimately Bednar's best outing of the spring. It was his second 1-2-3 inning that took less than 20 pitches as he retired the Yankees in order on March 3 with 17 pitches and recorded one strikeout. On this occasion, however, he was clean and efficient.
"Today he was sharp. The fastball was at the top," Derek Shelton said. "Completely confident David Bednar is going to -- I've been saying it all spring -- he's going to bounce back. He's going to have a good year. Sometimes you have a bad outing in spring training and everybody kind of goes off the rails and worries. But complete confidence in him and what he's going to do."
Just two days ago, Shelton said he wasn't fully committed to Bednar as the closer for the 2025 season and rightfully so. Bednar was a shell of himself in 2024 as he blew seven saves, racked up a 5.77 ERA and was all over the strike zone.
But, as the 2025 season approaches, Bednar seems to be trending in the right direction. He's just one year removed from a season in which he led the league in saves and was named an All-Star for the second straight year and he's ready to prove that again.
"I know whenever I'm doing whatever I'm capable of doing, I can do that job at a very high level. I'm very confident in that. I've done it in the past," Bednar said. "It's kinda just going back to that confidence and knowing that whenever I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and want to be doing, I can do it at a high level."
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
9:20 pm - 03.18.2025Bradenton, Fla.Bednar 'sharp' in bounce-back outing
David Bednar looks at his appearance last week in Fort Myers, Fla. against the Twins as just one of those days. He wasn't his best self and he realized that enough to make a few minor tweaks and do what he could to bounce back. In his last two appearances, he's done just that.
Despite the lack of defensive support on Saturday against the Orioles, Bednar pitched well and he followed that up today in the Pirates 3-2 win over the Phillies with a 1-2-3 inning that took just 13 pitches, nine of which were strikes.
"The last one, results-wise was whatever, but I was really happy with the shapes of my pitches," Bednar said. "Today was really nice to put it all together. I've got a couple more before the season starts. Just want to go in feeling strong."
Bednar threw five pitches to Garrett Stubbs to start off the fifth and got him to chase a high fastball for his first strikeout. He then got Christian Arroyo to ground out on an 0-2 curveball up in the zone. Cal Stevenson then watched a high 3-2 curveball that caught the top right corner of the strike zone on the sixth pitch of the at-bat.
It was ultimately Bednar's best outing of the spring. It was his second 1-2-3 inning that took less than 20 pitches as he retired the Yankees in order on March 3 with 17 pitches and recorded one strikeout. On this occasion, however, he was clean and efficient.
"Today he was sharp. The fastball was at the top," Derek Shelton said. "Completely confident David Bednar is going to -- I've been saying it all spring -- he's going to bounce back. He's going to have a good year. Sometimes you have a bad outing in spring training and everybody kind of goes off the rails and worries. But complete confidence in him and what he's going to do."
Just two days ago, Shelton said he wasn't fully committed to Bednar as the closer for the 2025 season and rightfully so. Bednar was a shell of himself in 2024 as he blew seven saves, racked up a 5.77 ERA and was all over the strike zone.
But, as the 2025 season approaches, Bednar seems to be trending in the right direction. He's just one year removed from a season in which he led the league in saves and was named an All-Star for the second straight year and he's ready to prove that again.
"I know whenever I'm doing whatever I'm capable of doing, I can do that job at a very high level. I'm very confident in that. I've done it in the past," Bednar said. "It's kinda just going back to that confidence and knowing that whenever I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing and want to be doing, I can do it at a high level."
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