Pirates casting wide net for Luis Ortiz-role in 2025
Pirates have options for versatile role on major league pitching staff
Spring training is the best time to try new things on the baseball field. Pitchers try out new pitches, and hitters can test any fine-tuning they did with their swing in the offseason.
Players get an opportunity to try out a new position or potential role, which increases their chances of making the major league roster.
One role the Pirates will be looking to fill is that of Luis Ortiz, not just in the rotation but also the role he filled before claiming that starting spot.
Now, with the Cleveland Guardians, Ortiz was used as a swingman/spot starter to begin the 2024 season before eventually permanently earning a spot in the rotation.
With him now gone, that freed up his rotation spot and the swingman/spot starter position in the bullpen.
It turns out that the Pirates are prepared to leave no stone unturned in their search for the best option for both roles.
The attention quickly turns to the fifth starter spot and names like Bubba Chandler, Johan Oviedo, and the newly acquired Andrew Heaney.
How that secondary role out of the bullpen plays out will be just as crucial as figuring out who will round out the rotation.
When the Pirates signed Caleb Ferguson, it was reported that the Pirates ‘intend to stretch him out to potentially place him on a starter schedule in Spring Training.’
While that certainly sounds like he could get an opportunity to earn a rotation spot, it could also create the potential for him to be able to handle multiple innings out of the bullpen this year.
Carmen Mlodzinski got the start in the Pirates’ spring opener, and while nothing was too much was thought of it at first glance, it turns out he too will get the opportunity to stretch out on a starters schedule in spring.
It wasn’t until the 2023 season that Mlodzinski made the shift to the bullpen, as he was a starter up to that point after being drafted in 2020.
He may not be able to build up enough to overtake one of the rotation spots, but again, that creates the opportunity for him to fill the other role in the bullpen left by Ortiz.
Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft, two of the Pirates’ top pitching prospects with injury concerns over their career, could benefit from pitching in that role.
They’d still get an opportunity to start but could benefit from the hybrid role that does not put a lot of pressure on their arms. Ashcraft has never pitched more than 73 innings in a single season but made some changes that should help clean up the arm issues he had last year.
Burrows logged nearly 100 innings one year but has spent time on the injured list in each of the past couple of years (2024 was a tad different as he was recovering from surgery in 2023).
If they even wanted to get super creative, they could opt to have Chandler fill that role, easing him into the majors before throwing him into the rotation and letting him go.
With the addition of Heaney, that even means that someone like Bailey Falter could make that shift. It also protects them if Oviedo is deemed unable to start the season on the roster, or needs some time in Triple-A to finish getting ready.
It’s not a thought of position, especially since Ortiz finished the year in the rotation, but his performance in 2024 made him one of the bigger breakout players on the Pirates’ roster.
With him gone, the Pirates are giving themselves plenty of options to fill both roles that Ortiz managed to leave upon getting traded.
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Burrows has the arsenal to go through the line up more than once, so he’s my leading candidate if he misses out on starting.
Cherington said they’re gonna stretch out Ferguson as well as Mlod.