Pitchers that may benefit from a shift to the bullpen
Which starters may perform better by making a move to the bullpen?
A lot goes into being a starter at the major league level. You generally need to have at least three pitches or two elite ones. It’s also expected for you to be able to get through the opposing lineup multiple times.
That’s not always something that pitching prospects can do, which doesn’t mean they won’t make it to the majors, they can always shift to the bullpen.
As a reliever, it’s easier to get by with only two pitches, sometimes even just one elite one, as you aren’t expected to face the same lineup multiple times in the same game.
The Pirates are plenty deep in the pitching department, and as more push the major league level, it may become necessary to shift a few to the bullpen. Some might perform better in that role, and today, I wanted to take a look at a few in the system.
For this article, I only looked at pitchers who made at least 10 starts this past season.
JP Massey, RHP
Highest Level: High-A Greensboro
Originally a senior signing in the 2022 draft, Massey jumped on the scene in 2023 with Bradenton, which landed him a spot in the Future Game during All-Star weekend.
It’s been a bit of a struggle since getting promoted to Greensboro, where the control issues that plagued him in college have returned.
He walked 12% of the batters he faced last season but did improve after missing about a month in July. After returning, Massey walked 10% of batters, down from 14%.
The breaking pitches stand out and make him an intriguing reliever option should the Pirates want to go that way. His slider and curveball had a whiff rate of over 50% in Bradenton during the 2023 season (the only available data we have on him).
When he’s near the zone, it’s still capable of getting misses at that rate, and maybe in shorter outings, he’d be able to master that more.
Derek Diamond, RHP
Highest Level: High-A Greensboro
While his stuff doesn’t jump off the page, Diamond is an arm that maybe you get a little more life out of in shorter outings. He’s currently having a solid Arizona Fall League.
He hasn’t pitched enough to qualify, but if he did, he’d be fourth in the hitter-friendly league for ERA. He’s done this mainly as a single-inning reliever.
Diamond has excellent control, especially of his fastball, if he could get the breaking pitches to play a little better, he may find a little more success as a reliever.
Khristian Curtis, RHP
Highest Level: Single-A Bradenton
Curtis has the stuff and deep pitch arsenal to be a starter but struggles with his control. Some of that stems from the surgery he underwent in college where he hasn’t completely regained feeling in his hand.
He’s the kind of arm you want to leave in the rotation for as long as possible, but at 22 and only pitching in Bradenton during the season, they have to try and push him next season to see how far he can make it.
Shorter outings could get the velocity to bump up a bit and put less pressure on his arm. Despite a few rough outings where he lost his control, Curtis has mostly pitched well in the AFL this year despite playing up in competition.
Leave him in the rotation as long as possible, but his fastball/cutter (a pitch he can manipulate into more break like a slider) would play well off each other in the bullpen.
Wilber Dotel, RHP
Highest Level: High-A Bradenton
Another arm that you probably want to give as long as possible in the rotation, Dotel hit triple-digits with his fastball in 2024. It’s an explosive pitch that he mixes with a slider and change-up.
He’s still learning how to pitch and best utilize the impressive stuff, as he also topped the century mark when it comes to innings pitched and strikeouts.
Baseball America also made an interesting comparison between Dotel and Luis Ortiz when it comes to the explosive fastball and being slightly on the older end when signing. Ortiz had his breakout season at 23 years old after starting the year in Altoona.
Dotel will be 22 for the majority of the 2025 season, with a September birthday.
Bullpen move due to injury concerns:
Mike Burrows and Braxton Ashcraft
Burrows was recovering from Tommy John last year, so his innings were limited, but he did make his major league debut out of the bullpen at the end of the year. While Tommy John is its own separate monster, Burrows has missed time due to an injury in each of the past couple of seasons.
There’s a case that his best utilization would be out of the bullpen. However, the fact he’s flashing four potentially above-average pitches (depending on what the fastball looks like in 2025) would make him a solid rotation candidate.
Ashcraft is another former Tommy John recipient who returned to the mound in 2023. It looked like he’d get stretched out even further this past season, but a forearm injury basically blew up the rest of his season after getting promoted to Indianapolis.
There is no clear word on how serious it was, but given his injury history, his best usage could be out of the bullpen, where he can let his two-plus breaking pitches play up more.
May have already made the move:
Carlos Jimenez
The stuff has always been there for Jimenez, but he’s dealt with some extreme control issues during his time in Bradenton.
He technically qualifies for this because he made 11 starts this past season, but after finally making it out of the Florida State League, it appeared he was being used more as a reliever with Greensboro.
Jimenez never pitched more than two innings in any of his three outings with Greensboro.
With one of the better change-ups in the system, there were times that Jimenez relied heavily on one pitch to get outs, something that he may have more success with as a reliever.
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Kinda late chiming in here, but I saw a lot of Curtis and he always seemed very sharp for two innings and then hit a wall. So I checked the splits and, yep, he really hits a wall in his third inning.
So several possibilities. Given the injury history it’s very possible he just needs time to build up and get healthy. Murph mentioned he doesn’t fully have the feeling back in his hand. He LOOKS like a potential starter. Or, he’s a 1-2 inning guy, maybe a really good one.
There are some guys here I see as relievers, if anything, down the road—Dotel, Jimenez, Massey. Curtis is less clear. Reed probably, too, although it’s maybe more 60/40 toward starter in his case.
Ashcraft, Burrows and Barco scream “Earl Weaver.” Harrington, with his command, should just start if he stays on track. My feeling on Diamond is, Meh.
Bubba is in his own category. Once it looks like he can pitch to ML hitters, just roll with him.
The key question is, What would Earl Weaver do?