Five Takeaways From Pirates Spring Training (+)
Spring training is over which can only mean one thing. Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day will soon be upon us!
The Pirates concluded Grapefruit League play with a 14-15 record and will now stay in the state of Florida to begin the regular season. The Pirates open up a four-game series against the Miami Marlins on Thursday before three games with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Spring training never provides all the answers. Wins and losses really don’t matter. Player performance does — to an extent.
However, there are still several conclusions we can draw from Pirates’ 2025 spring training. Here are five of them.
Starting Rotation Doesn’t Looks as Strong as First Thought
Any starting rotation headlined by the uber-talented Paul Skenes would be viewed as a strength for a team. That was no different entering the spring for the Pirates. And it still is, though not as much.
Skenes, Mitch Keller and Jared Jones looked like it would be one of the strongest top three in baseball. But Jared Jones’ elbow issue means he will at least miss the start of the regular season, if not significantly longer.
So now, the Pirates’ rotation consists of Skenes, Keller, Bailey Falter, Andrew Heaney and Carmen Mlodzinski.
Skenes’ ability needs no explanation. Keller has been an anchor the past couple seasons and was an All-Star in 2023. Falter had a pretty good first full-season in the big leagues last year and Heaney is an established veteran. Mlodzinski shifts from the bullpen to the rotation.
It’s not a bad starting rotation on paper, and there is help on the way. But I don’t think it can even be considered top 10 in the league without Jones or any of the top prospects.
David Bednar Still a Concern
It was surprising to see David Bednar struggle as bad as he did in 2024.
The right-hander entered the season having gone to back-to-back All-Star Games from 2022-23 and established himself as one of the better closers in the league. And yet, Bednar ended the season having lost his closer status.
Bednar finished the 2024 season with a 5.77 ERA and saw a significant increase in walks while his strikeout numbers dipped. He also blew seven of his 30 save opportunities.
This spring, Bednar allowed 10 runs (nine earned) in 8.0 innings pitched. He allowed 11 hits, but at least more encouragingly, had 10 strikeouts against three walks.
Bednar showed some good things for the Pirates this spring. But his double-digit ERA of 10.13 ERA is hard to ignore. They’ll need him to rebound in 2025 to stabilize the bullpen.
Hope For Jack Suwinski
While Bednar has so far been unable to shake off his rough 2024, Suwinski seems to have put his in the rearview mirror. He looked much more confident this spring.
Suwinski hit just .182 with a .588 OPS while seeing a drastic dip in power in 88 games for the Pirates last year after leading the team in OPS and home runs in 2023.
But this spring, Suwinski slashed .375/.422/.600 and drove in nine runs in 14 games. The most encouraging sign for me? He struck out in only 22% of his plate appearances. Yes, it’s spring, but that’s much improved from his 31% career strikeout rate.
If Suwinski carries over his spring performance into the regular season, it would provide the offense with a huge and welcomed boost.
Joey Bart Might Be For Real
Joey Bart broke out last year after the Pirates acquired him from the San Francisco Giants in early April.
After struggling to find his place with the Giants, Bart slashed .265/.337/.462 and slugged 13 home runs in 80 games.
He followed up last year’s regular season performance by posting a robust .350/.429/.625 batting line and finishing tied for second on the team with three homers and third with 10 RBIs on the spring.
It was fair to question if Bart’s success in 2024 would be a one-hit wonder or not, but given his spring performance, that can be tabled for now.
Why No Kyle Nicolas?
One roster omission that has puzzled me to a degree is Kyle Nicolas. Given what he showed last year and bullpen struggles as a whole, I would’ve assumed he was a near-lock to make the Opening Day roster.
This spring, he was charged with just one earned run on seven hits in 9.0 innings. Yes, he did walk eight batters, which is concerning, and command issues have plagued him in the past. Still, I probably would have had him travel to Miami.
But instead, Nicolas will start the year in Triple-A Indianapolis. I expect to see him in Pittsburgh relatively quickly whenever a reinforcement is needed.
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