The Pittsburgh Pirates - Career Revival Specialists

Over the course of the last 20 seasons, one thing has been consistent with the Pittsburgh Pirates . They’ve struggled terribly at developing young pitching and “fixing” veteran pitchers that lost their mojo. Times have changed, however, and the modern day Pittsburgh Pirates (and Ray Searage) deserve a lot of credit for developing pitching and reviving pitchers that appeared to be lost.

In terms of fixing veteran pitching, look no further than Pirates ace AJ Burnett. The Yankees couldn’t wait to unload the aging Burnett. The Yankees wanted to unload him bad enough that they agreed to pay a large chunk of his salary for the Pirates to take him…and rightfully so. Burnett’s time in New York featured the worst control of his career with career highs in wild pitches and walks with a 34-35 record and a 4.81 ERA. Burnett certainly appeared to be a past-his-prime pitcher that the Yankees severely overpaid for.

The Pirates gladly took Burnett off the Yankees hands and successfully revived his career. In 1 ¼ seasons, Burnett is 19-14 with a 3.04 ERA and he’s leading the NL in strikeouts currently. Burnett’s control has improved drastically from his time in New York. Burnett walked approximately 25% less batters last season than his average in New York and he’s no longer throwing wild pitches at an alarming rate. He’s an all-star candidate at 36 years old and can thank the Pirates for reviving his career.

Next on the list is Francisco Liriano. If Liriano can sustain the level of dominance we’ve seen in his first 3 games as a Pirate, it could be one of the Pirates greatest success stories this season. Liriano, once a sure-fire superstar, has dissipated over the last several seasons and the end of his baseball career seemed imminent. Not so fast…The Pittsburgh Pirates brought Liriano in, adjusted his arm slot, and he appears to be closer to the rising star he once was than a player fading out of baseball. In 3 starts with the Pirates, Liriano is 3-0 with an ERA of 1.00 in 18 IP. His control has improved significantly as he’s only allowed 6 walks. Most importantly, his 25 strikeouts display that he’s missing a lot of bats. Maybe it’s too soon to say the Pirates have revived Liriano’s career, but at first glance he’s showing top of the rotation stuff.

The list keeps going too. Wandy Rodriguez didn’t have his best years toward the end of his Astro’s career, albeit not as bad as Burnett and Liriano. Regardless, Rodriguez is the picture of consistency when he takes the hill for the Pirates.
How about Mark Melancon? He was acquired from Boston in the Joel Hanrahan trade. He struggled mightily in Boston last season as he posted a 6.20 ERA in 25 IP. The Pirates got their hands on him and he’s a potential all-star and a superb set up pitcher for Jason Grilli. Melancon currently has a 0.72 ERA in 25 IP with 26 strikeouts. Yep, another Pirates revival.

By the way, did somebody mention Jason Grilli? Oh yeah, Grilli was plucked out of the Phillies farm system a few years ago by the Pirates. Now he’s the major league leader in saves. His 1.31 ERA and 32 strikeouts in only 20.2 IP at 36 years old are just another Pirates revival project.

From a development perspective, Jeff Locke and Jeanmar Gomez are solidifying the back of the starting rotation. Both pitchers have outperformed their expectations and both have been brilliant. You have to pat the Pirates on the back for the development of these guys. Even more help is on the way with Charlie Morton and Jeff Karstens working on returning from injuries. James McDonald might be the ultimate revival project at this point, but I'm not as hopeful for him.

Pirates pitching coach Ray Searage deserves a lot of credit for the performance we’ve seen from the pitching staff so far this season. As a unit, they’ve posted the best team ERA in the major leagues in May. Searage's pitching staff ranks 2nd in the NL in both ERA and strikeouts.

The revival projects have been impressive and here’s to hoping John McDonald hits 35 homers when he returns from the DL. It would be par for the course. Let’s Go Bucs!