Johan Oviedo set to return from Tommy John surgery in 2025
Righty missed the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John
With pitching being the organization's clear strength, the Pirates felt comfortable trading three to get a potential long-term answer at first base.
Losing Luis Ortiz after his strong 2024 season left a hole in the major league rotation, but they will have no shortage of options to step in and replace him.
Perhaps the most well-known out of the bunch will be returning to the mix after missing this past season due to undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Johan Oviedo was acquired by the Pirates in the Jose Quintana trade along with Malcom Nunez. He was moved back into the rotation and put together a solid 2023 season with Pittsburgh.
In 177.2 innings pitched, Oviedo posted a 4.31 ERA with 158 strikeouts and 83 walks while putting up a 1.8 fWAR. It was a strong season in his first full as a starter in the majors. Unfortunately, it resulted in him needing Tommy John surgery.
The Cardinals had shifted Oviedo to the bullpen before the trade, but the Pirates still felt he had a future as a starter.
He relied primarily on his fastball and slider, throwing them both 35% or more of the time. They got results on each end of the spectrum, as the fastball was one of the worst in baseball in terms of Run-Value on Baseball Savant (-12). On the other hand, he had the 12th-best slider regarding the same metric (+12).
All three of his secondary pitches produced a whiff rate of over 30%, with the fastball and sinker getting under 20%.
The biggest question with Oviedo is how much he will be able to pitch in 2025, including what any kind of build-up will be like. He had the surgery early in the offseason, but after missing an entire season, he may be unable to jump right back in.
Add in the fact that he has options left, and there is a chance he will start in the minors to build his arm back up.
Interestingly, Oviedo may be the one who, at least initially, may be taking Ortiz’s spot in the rotation.
During the 2023 season, Ortiz also had one of the worst four-seam fastballs in all baseball. He started to throw the slider more and added a cutter, which allowed him to take his four-seam from a -14 RV in 2023 to a +6 this past season.
With Oscar Marin and now Brent Strom in the picture, perhaps they could cook up the same thing for Oviedo.
After emerging as a potential piece in the back of the rotation for the Pirates in 2023, Oviedo will have to do so again this upcoming season. If he can, he will have the opportunity to potentially join one of the better rotations in all of baseball.
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Thanks for the line. Oviedo had TJ surgery on Dec 6, 2023, therefore his key dates are:
May 26, 2024 - started throwing,
Jun 18, 2024 - 75 feet
Jul 08, 2024 - 90 feet
Aug 12, 2024 - Extended Distances
Dec 6, 2024 - 12 months
Feb 6, 2025 - 14 months
He should be fully released when the pitchers and Catchers report in Mid-February, and possibly be throwing 3/4 inning starts the last 3 weeks of ST. Does not mean he has to be in mid-season form, but at least 3+ innings. He also has an Option remaining. Oher pitchers with at least one Option remaining are Burrows 1, Ashcraft 2, Mlodzinski 2, Nicolas 2.
Kepler gone, now my obligatory condemnation of this team, freaking cheap bastards, no matter how low you set the bar they refused to clear it, a trade for a guy who has half a season under his belt and a bunch of meaningless moves, but it’s not their fault, year in year out shoot, decade in decade out they keep showing us that they have zero intentions to be anything more than mediocre……now I’ll take a few days off from all Pirates things and then come back for more….