Pirates Not Regretting Andrew Heaney’s ROI

The Pittsburgh Pirates entered spring training after an underwhelming offseason.

Not much was done to help revive a dormant offense, and that’s been reflected for much of the season.

The Pirates lost Aroldis Chapman in free agency and replaced him with modest deals for free agents Caleb Ferguson and Tim Mayza.

The most notable deal was bringing back franchise icon Andrew McCutchen on another one-year, $5 million contract.

But it was otherwise more of the same. No splash signings. No big trades. And more one-year deals, as has been the case for all of Ben Cherington’s tenure.

But one area Cherington has excelled at is signing veteran left-handed starting pitching and maximizing their value.

Whether it was Tyler Anderson, Jose Quintana or Rich Hill, Cherington has a monopoly on the market of bringing in soft-tossing southpaws and turning them into key pieces of the starting rotation.

It looks like he’s done it again.

About a week after pitchers and catchers reported to spring training, the Pirates signed Andrew Heaney to a one-year, $5.25 million contract.

The 33-year-old spent the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers and won the World Series in 2023. Last year, he went 5-14 with a 4.28 ERA in 32 appearances/31 starts, the latter of which set a career-high.

Five starts into his Pirates’ career, and Heaney looks like the steal of the offseason.

The left-hander made his team debut on March 30 in Miami and allowed one run on four hits in 5.0 innings.

He followed that outing up with a gem in his first home start. Against the mighty New York Yankees, Heaney tossed 7.0 innings, allowed just one run on five hits and struck out 10 batters.

Heaney’s worst statistical start came against the Reds on the road on Apr. 12, but really, one swing cost him. In the third inning, Heaney tried to sneak a 3-2 fastball past star Elly De La Cruz, but the Reds’ shortstop got enough of a pitch at the top of the zone to clear the wall in left field.

But since that home run? 16.1-consecutive scoreless innings.

Heaney finished that start by preventing the Reds from scoring for three innings. Last Thursday, he blanked the Washington Nationals across 7.1 innings — his longest start since the 2020 season.

He was on the mound for the Pirates in their 3-0 win against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night. To say he dominated wouldn’t suffice.

Heaney struck out the first six batters he faced. Six up, six down, all strikeouts through the first two innings. He became the second Pirates’ pitcher in the expansion era (since 1961) to strikeout the first six-plus batters he faced the start a game. The other is a guy named Paul Skenes, who happens to be one of the best pitchers in baseball. Skenes struck out seven in a row against the Cubs at Wrigley Field in his second-career start last season.

A one-out double from Travis d’Arnaud in the fifth inning ended a perfect game bid, but he was the only baserunner Heaney allowed.

The left-hander threw 6.0-shutout innings on the one hit. He didn’t walk a batter, struck out nine, got 24 whiffs and threw 66 of his 95 pitches for strikes.

Through his first five starts, Heaney is fourth in the National League and ninth in baseball with a 1.72 ERA. He leads the NL and is third in MLB with a 0.77 WHIP and is sixth in MLB in opponent batting average (.161). He leads the Pirates with a 1.3 bWAR.

In an otherwise lackluster offseason, Cherington and the Pirates struck gold with Heaney.

In four of his five starts, he’s allowed one or zero runs. He’s done the seemingly impossible of being the best starting pitcher in a rotation he shares with Paul Skenes.

Not bad for a little over $5 million.