The Pittsburgh Pirates have seen five players elect free agency from their Triple-A squad over the last few days. Edward Olivares, Jake Woodford, Billy McKinney, Ryder Ryan, and Justin Bruihl all elected free agency. All five players spent time with the Pirates at the Major League level in 2024.
Olivares was acquired last offseason in a minor move with the Royals. After hitting for power in the second half with Kansas City, the Pirates took a chance on the breakout. Olivares struggled in the majors with the Pirates, and continued his struggles in the minors, where he finished the 2024 season.
Woodford was signed as a minor league free agent in June, to be used as Triple-A pitching depth. He pitched well at the level, helping to stabilize the Indianapolis rotation while the Pirates used the former Indianapolis pitchers to stabilize their injured pitching staff. Woodford eventually was used as a depth option for the Major League rotation on two separate occasions.
Ryan was added to the team on Opening Day as a depth option, and was the most commonly used pitcher out of the minors this year. He was optioned five times, outrighted to Triple-A twice, but remained with the Pirates due to the many opportunities given throughout the year.
McKinney spent most of the season in the minors, where he was injured in the first half and with Triple-A in the second half. He got a brief call to the big leagues at the end of the year, after putting up good numbers with Indianapolis. He didn’t repeat the success in the Majors, and was outrighted back to Triple-A.
Bruihl is a lefty reliever who made it up to the Majors for seven games and 5.2 innings this season. He allowed six runs. The Pirates added him in early June as a minor league free agent. He had a 3.93 ERA in 18.1 innings for Indianapolis out of their bullpen.
There are still over 20 members of the upcoming minor league free agent class, so expect more players to elect free agency over the next month as the offseason slowly begins for the Pirates.
