Pittsburgh Pirates rethink traditional pitching roles, prioritizing arm health and strategic workload management for a flexible, unconventional staff.
The Pittsburgh Pirates currently have a two-man starting rotation at a time when some major-league teams are using six starters.
However, general manager Ben Cherington and manager Don Kelly aren’t trying to turn back time to the late 19th century, when it was common for teams to use either one or two starters. Instead, the Pirates are looking at ways to keep their young starters and those coming off injuries as healthy as possible by monitoring their workloads.
Currently, the rotation is Paul Skenes, the 2025 NL Cy Young winner, and right-hander Mitch Keller.
Braxton Ashcraft, impressive as a rookie, is expected on the opening-day roster, as is rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler. They may not always pitch in traditional starting roles, potentially limiting their innings.
“We’re trying to prepare a group of pitchers to be in a position to help us win games,” Cherington told reporters at the Pirates’ spring training camp in Bradenton, Fla. “Exactly what the roles are, with some it’s clearer. With others, we’re still learning. We believe in the group. We’ve seen this spring that we’ve got guys with pitch qualities and the ability to execute to get major league hitters out. It’s just a matter of how we’re going to use them all.”
Pittsburgh could use Ashcraft and Chandler as bulk-inning relievers who follow an opener, as piggyback pitchers in the same game, or occasionally as openers themselves.
The same goes for the five pitchers presumably vying for the fifth starter’s job, with the possibility they could be used in potential bullpen games as well.
Veterans Jose Urquidy and Mike Clevinger have long injury histories. Carmen Mlodzinski is attempting another reliever-to-starter conversion. Rookies Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington are also in the mix.
“What we’re looking for as guys get their pitch counts up is how they’re holding their stuff and execution as they get deeper into outings, and you start to think about how guys can come together to form the best group of 13 that we can leave Florida with,” Cherington said. “Some of them will be pitching in traditional starting roles. We may ask some to pitch in different roles to help us win games. Still thinking about it that way and less specific than 3-4-5-6.”
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