Santana, Soto, and Montgomery lead a revitalized Pirates bullpen poised for a strong season, even before spring training begins.
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen seems third-quarter set, even though the start of spring training is still two days away.
Six of the eight relief pitching spots appear accounted for before as pitchers and catchers get set to begin workouts Wednesday in Bradenton, Fla. Closer Dennis Santana tops a group that includes left-handers Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery and right-handers Isaac Mattson, Justin Lawrence, and Carmen Mlodzinski (unless he opens the season as the fifth starter).
Those pitchers give the Pirates optimism that relief pitching will be one of the team’s strengths as they try to bounce back from a last-place finish in the National League Central last season. Pittsburgh's record was 71-91, but it was 13th in the major leagues with a 3.83 relief ERA.
The Pirates had such a solid mark despite trading two-time All-Star closer David Bednar to the New York Yankees on July 31. Furthermore, Colin Holderman, expected to be the top set-up man, had an awful year with a 7.01 ERA.
Following the late-season emergence of Santana – he converted 10 of 12 save opportunities after the trade -- and the addition of the hard-throwing Soto and Montgomery, Pittsburgh feeld it bullpen is ready to move up a level.
“I think depth in a bullpen is really important, especially when you get to some of those longer days in the summer and where you need days (off),” Lawrence said. “Like you want to throw three days in a row. You want to. But the reality of doing that multiple times in a season is very taxing on the body.
“So, I think as our bullpen, being able to trust some of these younger guys to step up, being able to trust guys that are going to come up and help us out, I think it's going to be huge, because you know the starting rotation is going to do their thing. You know they're going to give us their five, six, seven, and we're going to go and close them out for them.”
Left-hander Evan Sisk and right-hander Yohan Ramirez appear to be the favorites to win the two remaining bullpen jobs. Righties Brandon Bidois, Kyle Nicolas, Cam Sanders, and Bryan Harbin are all on the 40-man roster, and veteran Chris Devenski will be among a host of non-roster relievers who will be in camp.
“Looking at last year, we did a really good job of executing,” Mattson said. “Now it’s just being able to carry that through. I know we’ve added some pieces in the bullpen. Just excited to be able to piggyback off of that success that we had last year and carry it into 2026.
“I see the work that (the relievers) put in every day. It doesn’t mean that you are going to have success, but it puts you in the best spot. Supreme confidence in the group that we have coming back to do our job. Looking forward to being a part of that.”
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