Pirates Remove David Bednar From Closer Role

CLEVELAND — Amidst prolonged struggles this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates are removing David Bednar from the closer role for the time being, manager Derek Shelton revealed pregame on Friday.

“Yeah, I think in the short-term, Bednar will come out of the closer role,” said Shelton. “It’s something to kind of take a little pressure off him. I mean, you know that this guy’s been really good over the last couple years. Right now, he’s scuffling a little bit, so, kind of adjust that a little bit and try try to take a little bit off him.”

On the season, the right-hander is 3-7 with a 6.32 ERA and has blown six saves in 29 opportunities. Bednar got off to a slow start to begin the season before finding his footing. However, he’s fallen on hard times again.

Since the start of August, Bednar has a 10.97 ERA (13er/10.2ip) and has blown three saves chances. Bednar’s struggles were highlighted in the Pirates’ disastrous 14-10 loss against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday. In that game, he inherited a 10-8 lead in the ninth before he was charged with five runs in two-thirds of an inning and took the loss.

It’s been quite a fall for Bednar, who owned a 2.25 ERA during his first three seasons in Pittsburgh and was an All-Star in each of the last two seasons.

With Bednar out of the closer’s role, Aroldis Chapman is a logical candidate to take over. The veteran left-hander is third among active relievers with 325 saves.

However, Shelton says that the Pirates will not have a set closer for the time being.

“I think right now, we’ll go by committee a little bit,” he explained. “Kind of go through it. Once we get to Sept. 1 and we add a full complement, maybe we adjust it a little bit. But I think right now, we’ll kind of go by committee.”

In addition to Chapman, the Pirates have a couple of right-handers who could see time in the ninth inning, including Kyle Nicolas and Carmen Mlodzinski, though neither has much experience handling the ninth inning.

While the Pirates will try and navigate the ninth inning without Bednar, there’s no denying the importance of needing him to regain his form from the last few seasons. Maybe this is the move the is necessary for that to happen.