Pirates Prospects Daily: Split Squad Games Show Potential Bullpen Depth

Although maybe not ideal because they are harder to keep track of, but split squad games are a good chance to get as many people into game situations as possible.

Playing two games on Thursday, the Pirates were going to have to not only dig deep into their bench (and reserves from minor league camp) but also into their bullpen to cover the 18 innings worth of pitching.

The Pirates made sure they improved on the pitching depth, adding in the Rule 5, free agency and by trade to try and get more bodies in position to help throughout the season.

The split squad games was a good opportunity to get a look at quite a few of the players that are vying for a bullpen role.

Eight relief pitchers that have some sort of shot to make the big league bullpen out of camp pitched between the two games, and combined for eight innings of two run ball, allowing just six this and one walk while striking out seven.

That isn’t including their big offseason free agent signing (Jarlin Garcia), three returning members (Chase De Jong, Robert Stephenson, and Duane Underwood Jr.) or their closer, David Bednar.

Versus The Yankees

Wil Crowe and Angel Perdomo each pitched a clean inning, with the former picking up a strike out. Perdomo pumped out all fastballs in his outing, staying within 93-94 mph.

Colin Holderman (pictured above yesterday by WTM) has quite the array of pitches for a reliever. He came out throwing gas against the Yankees, getting up to 99.9 mph on his fastball. He didn’t get much work after coming over in the Daniel Vogelbach trade before getting hurt, but could fall into a late-inning role at some point this season.

Picked up in the Rule 5, Jose Hernandez continues to show his fastball that has reached triple digits before, and sat 96-98 on Thursday. The biggest difference is the added emphasis on the slider, throwing it eight of them out of 18 total pitches.

Versus The Blue Jays

They didn’t go through as many relief pitchers against the Blue Jays, with Colin Selby coming in after starter Roansy Contreras. The first pitch Selby threw was hit for a double off the wall, with that runner eventually scoring. He might not factor in immediately, but could be by the end of the season.

Yohan Ramirez put up some very interesting pitch metrics last year, especially with his sinker, although he got beat up in his first spring outing. He bounced back and struck out two in his inning of work.

Finally, Dauri Moreta was acquired in the Kevin Newman trade from the Cincinnati Reds in the offseason. He also picked up a pair of strikeouts in his innings of work, his first appearance of the spring.

Even Tyler Samaniego, arguably the best left-handed relief prospect in the system, pitched an inning in relief — a wacky outing where he came in for Mitch Keller to finish the second, before coming back in to replace him again in the third.

One of the biggest keys to the Pirates season is not putting them in a position to have to overuse Bednar like they did in 2022. They showed that they should have plenty of arms to go around, even if the injury bug were to strike a bit.