David Bednar

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2016
A-:  1-0-2, 0.00 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, 10.0 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 13.5 K/9
A:  3-4-2, 3.43 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 21.0 IP, 1.7 BB/9, 10.7 K/9

After Bednar signed, the Padres sent him to short season ball, but after eight games they moved him up to low A, where he got into 15 more.  He was effective at both stops, with very good walk and K rates.

2017
A:  1-1-9, 1.87 ERA, 0.86 WHIP, 33.2 IP, 2.9 BB/9, 13.4 K/9
A+:  0-3-2, 3.58 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 27.2 IP, 2.9 BB/9, 10.1 K/9

Bednar split the season between low A and high A.  He had little trouble at the lower level.  He got hit harder in high A, but it was the high-offense California League.

2018
A+:  2-4-10, 2.73 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 69.1 IP, 3.8 BB/9, 12.5 K/9

The Padres sent Bednar back to the California League and he pitched well, again considering the environment.  He had a very high K rate.

2019
AA:  2-5-14, 2.95 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 58.0 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 13.3 K/9
MLB:  0-2-0, 6.55 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 11.0 IP, 4.1 BB/9, 11.5 K/9

Bednar pitched well in AA, continuing to miss a lot of bats.  The Padres called him up in September and he continued to miss bats, but otherwise wasn’t as effective.

2020
MLB:  0-0-0, 7.11 ERA, 2.05 WHIP, 6.1 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 7.1 K/9

Bednar served as depth at the Padres’ training site.  He got called up several times and made four appearances in which he mostly got hit hard.

2021
MLB:  3-1-3, 2.23 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 60.2 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 11.4 K/9

When Bednar was acquired, he appeared to need some time in AAA.  He has two options left, but had a spectacular spring and made the opening day roster.  He eventually established himself as the team’s best reliever.  He started the season with his fastball, which sat around 97 mph, and splitter as his main pitches, but he gradually replaced the splitter with a curve.  The splitter is a good pitch, but the curve was devastating, with a whiff rate of nearly 50%.  Over his last 27 appearances, Bednar had an 0.88 ERA and 0.82 WHIP.  For the year he had a reverse platoon split, holding left-handed hitters to a 178/253/278 line, but right-handed hitters didn’t do a lot better at 190/254/357.  After the Pirates traded Richard Rodriguez, Bednar shared 8th and 9th inning duties with Chris Stratton, but he missed about half of September with an oblique strain.

2022
AAA:  0-1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3.0 IP, 3 BB/9, 12.0 K/9
MLB:  3-4-19, 2.61 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 51.2 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 12.0 K/9

Bednar took over the closer role and, for a couple of months, was as good as any reliever in baseball.  He picked up a number of saves of more than three outs, including an eight-out save against St. Louis.  The workload may have gotten to him, though, as he started showing signs of wear in June.  Bednar finally went on the injured list with a sore back and missed August and the first half of September.  Even with the uneven stretch, for the year Bednar allowed just a 218/281/337 batting line.  His three pitches — four-seamer, curve and splitter — all remained swing-and-miss offerings.

Hopefully, Derek Shelton will exercise more restraint with Bednar in 2023 than he did in 2022.