The Pittsburgh Pirates missed out on the postseason, but were eliminated with just a week and a half to play in the regular season.

Looking back on what kept Pittsburgh out of the postseason, the bullpen’s production early in the season immediately stands out. Still, it isn’t all negative for the reliever core during the 2026 season.

Let’s break down where Pittsburgh’s bullpen finished compared to the rest of MLB, and who the leaders were when the season came to an end.

Looking at some of the general team bullpen stats, it’s clear that the Pirates had some obvious strengths and weaknesses throughout the season.

One of the best parts of Pittsburgh’s reliever core was their ability to generate swing-and-miss. Finishing the season with the third-most strikeouts by a bullpen in baseball is definitely an accomplishment and something the team can look to build on.

That said, allowing the fourth-most walks by a bullpen in the sport certainly isn’t a recipe for success. The Pirates could be in a better spot in the other categories if they cut down on free passes in 2027.

The two names that dominate this list (min. 20 innings pitched) are Mason Montgomery and Yohan Ramirez, and that’s pretty fitting considering how each player was a key piece of Pittsburgh’s bullpen in 2026.

As the starting pitchers category shows, the Pirates relied heavily on Ramirez to eat innings throughout the season. It wasn’t the flashiest job, but the 31 still ended up with the most strikeouts in the bullpen, with a 2.86 ERA.

Then, there’s what Mason Montgomery did during his first season in Pittsburgh. The flamethrower was shaky during the first half of the seaosn, but was one of the best pitchers in all of baseball during the final 82 games of 2026.

Montgomery’s 18 saves were the most on the team and solidified his role as the Pirates' closer moving forward.

Perhaps the most surprising play here is Carmen Miodzinski, who technically finished the season with the best bullpen ERA. He wasn’t

Pittsburgh’s bullpen still needs to add some reinforcements this offseason, but it has some nice building blocks to work with, too.