The Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday made the final moves to set their Opening Day roster, with the most notable decision being Jared Jones making the Opening Day rotation.
Jones had an impressive spring, with no earned runs in 16.1 innings of work, along with some of the best stuff on the team. He will be third in the Opening Day order, making his debut on Sunday against the Miami Marlins. That also puts him in line to pitch the home opener in Pittsburgh on April 5th.
“He performed really well in Spring Training,” said Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington. “More than the surface performance, though, continued progress and the work he was doing, between starts, coming into the game in terms of execution and usage of all the pitches. Obviously, we know the competitor, believe in him, and believe he makes our team better by being on it to start the season. So we’re excited to watch him pitch.”
The Opening Day Rotation
The Pirates Opening Day rotation order: Mitch Keller, Martin Perez, Jones, Bailey Falter, Marco Gonzales.
From that list, the surprise is Bailey Falter, who struggled this spring with a 7.88 ERA. The Pirates liked the left-handed look in a rotation that will now feature three lefties. They also weighed his 2023 season and execution more than the spring performance.
“We came into it thinking it was not only going to be spring, but going back to last year as well,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said.
The Pirates have Luis Ortiz and Roansy Contreras in the bullpen, who can both pitch multi-inning bulk roles. Those two are candidates to pitch behind Falter for length, making his spot in the rotation the most likely for a bullpen game. Falter will be the starter, even if the Pirates go that route.
“I think we have people behind him that we can use for length, if that happens to be the case, but he’s in the rotation,” said Shelton.
Bullpen Depth
The bullpen had some injuries, with Carmen Mlodzinski and Colin Holderman beginning the year on the 15-day IL. Hunter Stratton and Ryder Ryan had their contracts selected, and made the Opening Day roster.
“Those two guys in particular, competition, performance merit, that’s a key piece of it,” said Cherington. “They both bring different things in their arsenal to the table in terms of how we can deploy them. They’re different pitchers.”
Stratton made his debut with the Pirates in late 2023, putting up a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings of work, getting a lot of swing and miss from his breaking stuff, and a high ground ball rate. The Pirates signed Ryan to a minor league deal in December. The right-hander put up a 3.38 ERA in eight innings this spring, striking out ten.
“We like the sinker,” said Shelton of Ryan’s stuff. “He’s had a good spring. We like the different variations with guys coming out of our bullpen. He’s a guy that can come in and get a ground ball and execute pitches to get us out of jams.”
Josh Fleming, Contreras, and Ortiz also made the team, in addition to Stratton and Ryan. Those five players join David Bednar, Aroldis Chapman, and Ryan Borucki to fill out the bullpen.
Henry Davis Makes the Team
There were some questions early in camp about whether Henry Davis would make the Opening Day roster. The catcher and number one overall pick in 2021 was officially added to the team today, though his progress behind the plate this spring sealed his opportunity.
“The best thing you can say is watching the games he caught, at some point in the spring, we just stopped asking ourselves, ‘Can [he] do this or not?'” said Cherington on the progress from Davis. “It was just more about ‘Alright, we’re just watching the games.’ Feedback from everyone’s been really positive. Excited about where he’s at.”
The Pirates believed Davis could catch MLB games when they drafted him, due to his physical capacity, work ethic, toughness, and skills. Davis dealt with a few injuries in the minors, which reduced his playing time behind the plate. The team then converted him to right field last year to get his bat in the majors, with Endy Rodriguez spending time behind the plate. Rodriguez went down with Tommy John over the offseason, opening the role for Davis.
“Once he got the opportunity this past offseason and had clarity that, okay, this is who I am, this is what I’m going to do, not surprisingly, he went to work and did everything he possibly could have to put himself in a position to come in, in Spring Training and compete at that spot,” said Cherington. “And that’s exactly what he did. So I don’t think it’s a surprise, given what we know about him and the work ethic and anything that’s been in front of him in the past, the challenges he’s conquered. But it certainly was great to see.”
Other Moves
**The bench was filled out with Edward Olivares making the team, winning out over non-roster invitee Billy McKinney. The decision on Olivares isn’t a surprise, after the Pirates sent down his main competition, Joshua Palacios.
**Ji-Hwan Bae and Yasmani Grandal both opened the season on the 10-day IL.
**Quinn Priester was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.
**McKinney, Jake Lamb, Gilberto Celestino, Brent Honeywell Jr., Grant Koch, Eric Lauer, Domingo German and Wily Peralta were reassigned to minor league camp.
Pirates Opening Day Roster
Pitchers (13) – David Bednar, Ryan Borucki, Aroldis Chapman, Roansy Contreras, Bailey Falter, Josh Fleming, Marco Gonzales, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Luis Ortiz, Martín Pérez, Ryder Ryan, Hunter Stratton.
Position Players (13) – Oneil Cruz (INF), Henry Davis (C), Jason Delay (C), Ke’Bryan Hayes (INF), Connor Joe (INF/OF), Andrew McCutchen (DH/OF), Edward Olivares (OF), Bryan Reynolds (OF), Jack Suwinski (OF), Michael A. Taylor (OF), Rowdy Tellez (INF), Jared Triolo (INF), Alika Williams (INF).
Pirates Prospects Daily
In this week’s Prospect Watch, I looked at one hitter and one pitcher to follow at every level in the Pirates’ farm system.
Prospect Watch: One Hitter and One Pitcher to Follow At Every Level
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Last Week on Pirates Prospects
Check back on Tuesday at noon for a loaded premium article drop, with features on Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Termarr Johnson, Bubba Chandler, Tsung-Che Cheng, and Lonnie White Jr. You can access the premium articles by being a Patreon supporter.
Below are the articles from last week’s drop, if you missed it:
**The History of Anthony Solometo’s Funky Delivery
Read about how Anthony Solometo developed one of the funkiest deliveries in the game and reached the upper levels as one of the top prospects in the Pirates’ system.
**Braxton Ashcraft Returned From Tommy John With MLB Stuff
Braxton Ashcraft is looking like he could help the Pirates in 2024, with the help of three plus offerings.
**Thomas Harrington Emerged as a Top Ten Prospect in His Pro Debut
He’s down with a shoulder issue right now, but Thomas Harrington showed he was a top ten prospect in the system with his 2023 debut.
**J.P. Massey Shows His Future Potential During Eventful 2023 Season
After a trip to the MLB Future’s Game, and a full season in A-ball, J.P. Massey is showing off potential that could lead to a future in Pittsburgh.
**Jackson Wolf’s Elevator Delivery Explained
Solometo isn’t the only lefty with a funky delivery. Read about Jackson Wolf, who the Pirates acquired from the Padres last year at the deadline.
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