Pittsburgh spent most of the offseason focusing on hitting. For a team that finished dead last in goalscoring last season, the approach makes sense. The Pirates parted ways with young players to get more bats. The team sent Mike Burrows they went to Houston in a three-way trade that got them Brandon Lowe again Jake Mangum. Pittsburgh has moved Johan Oviedo to Boston Joshynxon Garcia. The deals leave no room for closure at the end of the exchange.
Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandleragain Mitch Keller locks. Braxton Ashcraft has a respectable claim to the No. 4 spot. The young righty first worked as a multi-inning reliever before transitioning to a starting role. Ashcraft has started or pinch-hit for another starter in his last nine games. He allowed two earned runs or fewer in all but one out in that stretch.
Jared Jones would be an obvious choice to make the team if healthy, but the right-hander had UCL surgery in May. He expressed his hope for his success at PiratesFest this week. Jones told reporters, including Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, that he works two bullpens a week and has been mixing in offspeed pitches. Even with the encouraging results, Jones will be hard-pressed to be ready for Opening Day. Recovery time for surgery is usually 10 to 12 months. Pittsburgh may have taken it lightly with its prized possession.
Here’s a look at the top candidates to open the season as Pittsburgh’s fifth starter. Given Chandler’s lack of experience and Ashcraft’s limited career, there’s a chance he’ll stay in the rotation even after Jones returns.
Host: Carmen Mlodzinski
For the current Pirates who can’t be called Skenes or Keller, Mlodzinski started last season. He threw a career-high 99 innings between the rotation and the bullpen. Mlodzinski made nine starts to start the year, but posted an ERA over 5.00. He found himself at Triple-A Indianapolis in mid-May. The 26-year-old returned to the big league club in June, working in relief. He entered one place starting from the bottom.
Mlodzinski has been a key member of the playing staff since his debut in 2023. He compiled a 3.25 ERA across 109 games. The first fix doesn’t suit him, at least not yet. Mlodzinski has a 4.47 ERA as a starter, compared to a 2.71 mark as a reliever. He’ll appear to have a deep enough arsenal to get through the order multiple times, as he throws five different pitches at least 10% of the time in 2025, but the results haven’t shown it yet. Opponents hit .214 against Mlodzinski in the first order. That number jumps to .381 for the second time in the order. Mlodzinski is probably best used in a versatile role, instead of a locked-in rotation piece.
Rookies: Thomas Harrington and Hunter Barco
Pittsburgh’s second and third picks in the 2022 draft are close to having a role with the big league team. Both Harrington and Barco made their debuts last season, but made only a handful of appearances. They have options left and are long shots to make the Opening Day roster, but could be a very interesting pick.
Harrington had moved quickly through the Pittsburgh program until he hit a roadblock in 2025. After pitching well in Triple-A to close out the 2024 campaign, he struggled mightily in Indianapolis last year. Harrington pitched to a 5.34 ERA with an average strikeout rate of 21.7%. After posting above-average strikeout numbers in previous stops, Harrington has failed to hit 22% in both stints in Triple-A. He hammered 15 earned runs over 8 2/3 innings in his short MLB tenure.
Barco didn’t reach Triple-A until May. He kept his ERA under 4.00 with over a strikeout per inning, though it came with a dismal 13% walk rate. His swing-and-miss numbers have been more impressive than Harrington’s, but control has been a step behind lately. Barco threw three scoreless innings against the Pirates at the end of the season. The fact that he succeeded in his cup of coffee and Harrington paled may be enough to give him the edge on the list. Barco will also give Pittsburgh a lefty in the rotation.
Classic Pittsburgh Free Agent
Speaking of lefties, we’ve reached the most likely scenario. Pittsburgh has a penchant for relying on veteran southpaws to eat up innings after rotation. As MLBTR’s Anthony Franco says, Jose Quintana, Martín Pérezagain Tyler Anderson they all fit the bill in recent seasons. It was Andrew Heaney and commercial acquisitions Bailey Falter this past year.
General manager Ben Cherington talked about adding to the rotation. Quintana, Anderson, and Perez are still available. How is it Patrick Corbin? After being one of the worst hitters in the league in his final years in Washington, he rebounded in Texas last year. Corbin navigated his way to a sub-4.00 ERA through July. He was hit in the final two months of the season, but put together a decent first half. The 36-year-old Corbin could be the next slow-throwing lefty to find success at PNC Park.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
