Pirates Removing Pitcher David Bednar From Starting Closer Role

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ pitching woes have continued recently as the past week has been rough for the bullpen.

Pittsburgh lost four games last week to the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Guardians. Their bullpen allowed 36 runs (34 earned) across the four losses. Due to this, their bullpen’s ERA has climbed to 4.65, fourth-worst in the league.

Closer David Bednar has been part of the issue for Pittsburgh’s bullpen. The closer is 3-7 this season with a 6.32 ERA and six blown saves. In his last outing, Bednar gave up five runs in the Pirates’ 14-10 loss to the Cubs.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton is removing David Bednar from the starting closer role according to MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf.

“Manager Derek Shelton announced before Friday’s game against the Guardians that the Pirates would be removing David Bednar from the closer role for the short term, hoping to give the struggling right-hander some time to regroup in lower-leverage situations,” Stumpf reported.

“The bullpen was expected to be the strength of the staff, as well as one of the strongest bullpens in baseball, coming into the season, but that has clearly not come to pass. Some of that can be attributed to injuries, being without Ryan Borucki and Dauri Moreta for the year, but they have also had several key players not live up to expectations, including Bednar.”

Bednar has been a star for the Pirates for the past two seasons, earning two straight All-Star appearances. He had a career-high 39 saves in 2023 with a 2.00 ERA. Although Bednar has not met expectations this season, this move will hopefully help him return to form as Pittsburgh closes out the season.

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