Perrotto: Pirates Counting on Relatively Unknown Pitcher (+)
Osvaldo Bido has never been considered one of the top prospects in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.
The only time the lanky right-hander ever appeared in Baseball America’s top 30 rankings was prior to the 2020 season. The publication had him as the Pirates’ No. 26 prospect.
However, the minor league season was canceled that year because of the pandemic after Bido had won 12 games at the Class A level in 2019. Bido fell off the list in 2021 and never got back on.
Yet Bido finally made it to the big leagues earlier this month at age 27 and debuted June 14 against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. On Monday night, he made a second start against the Cubs at PNC Park.
With starting pitchers JT Brubaker and Vince Velasquez sidelined for the season with elbow injuries and Roansy Contreras moved from the rotation to the bullpen because of ineffectiveness, Bido has become a key figure for the Pirates.
“It feels good that the team would rely on me getting innings,” Bido said. “Every time I go out there, I’m gonna do my best to put my team in a good spot, just try to do my best out there to like I said put my team in a good spot.”
Bido put the Pirates in a good spot in each of his first two outings. He allowed one run in four innings in a no-decision in his first game then took the loss Monday when he pitched six innings and gave up three runs.
That loss had a bit of a fluky feel to it as Bido gave up all three runs in the second inning while heavy rain fell. The rain started right at the beginning of the inning and then ended as soon as Bido got the third out.
“It was tough, definitely,” Bido said. “It was raining, my hands were wet. I was trying to hide the ball the best I can, just to keep it dry, but it was tough. But my mentality was just to keep attacking hitters and it doesn’t matter if there’s rain or not, that was my mentality.”
Bido blanked the Cubs over the final four innings and is now 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts with 13 strikeouts in 10 innings.
Bido is just the sixth Pirates pitcher since 1901 to have at least six strikeouts in each of his first two major-league starts and the first since Nick Kingham (2018). Others on that list are Sam Leever (1901), Nick Maddox (1907), Jose DeLeon (1983), Tim Wakefield (1992) and Zach Duke (2005).
Whether Bido can continue to pitch well at the major-league level remains to be seen. He makes his third start Saturday against the Marlins in Miami.
At Indianapolis this season, Bido didn’t pitch particularly well. He had a 3-4 record and a 4.88 ERA in 12 games (10 starts), though he did strike out 56 in 55.1 innings.
That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for the long haul. The Pirates, though, just need Bido to continue pitching well in the present.
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