What Can We Expect from Osvaldo Bido?

When it comes to Osvaldo Bido, not much is known about him by most  Pittsburgh Pirates’ fans. We bring up Bidoi because the right-hander will make his major-league debut Wednesday night when the Pirates play the Cubs in Chicago.

Bido, from the Dominican Republic, was signed by the Pirates back in March 2017 with a $10,000 signing bonus.

Since being signed by the Pirates, Bido has been mostly a starter with a career minor-league ERA of 4.40 in 529.2 innings pitched. Not exactly what you call eye-popping numbers, but could there be something underneath those numbers waiting to be tapped?

Before that question can be answered, let’s take a look at what Bido brings to the table.

The 27-year-old right-hander offers a four-pitch mix with a four-seam, slider, changeup, and sinker. In addition, Bido’s four-seam seems to sit between 93-96 mph, with an emphasis on attacking the upper third of the zone with it.

Bido seems to switch between a slider and a four-seam as his dominant pitch. On May 17, 2023, Bido pitched six full innings and used his slider 38% of the time and his four-seam 36% of the time.

Most of his starts seem to have limited hard contact with his four-seam and slider, averaging in the mid-80s in exit velocity most of the time.

In that start on May 17, Bido also induced 17 total whiffs, with his slider leading the way with nine.

One of his most impressive starts of the year occurred recently on June 3 against the Detroit Tiger’s Triple-A team, the Toledo Mud Hens.

Bido pitched a total of seven innings while giving up five hits, two earned runs, no walks, and seven strikeouts.

One of the biggest problems with the current major league rotation for the Pirates is the lack of players with a four-seam with swing and miss ability.

On June 3, Bido induced seven whiffs with the four-seam with an average exit velocity of 83.3 mph with a total of eight balls put into play.

Sometimes all a player needs is a chance to prove themselves, and there is no greater opportunity for Bido to do that than this Cubs series.

Most fans have small expectations, which is fair, but Bido has a good four-seam/slider combination which could prove to be effective if he carries speeds and keeps the batter off-balance.