By NOAH HILES

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

BRADENTON, Fla. (TNS) — The Pirates arrived in the Sunshine State last month looking to build a foundation that will allow the organization to take the next step forward in 2025. The club’s spring featured many highs and lows, including injuries, last-minute roster additions, surprise performances and notable struggles.

With the preseason now in the books, Derek Shelton’s squad has hit the road to Miami, where it will begin the regular season Thursday at loanDepot Park.

But before we turn the page over to the regular season, we need to take one final look over everything that unfolded throughout the past six weeks. Here are the Post-Gazette’s five takeaways from the Pirates’ 2025 spring training campaign: NEVER ENOUGH STARTING PITCHING Cliches exist for a reason, and one of the most common lines of baseball thinking applied heavily to the Pirates this spring. Entering the start of camp, the starting rotation was viewed as the unquestioned strength of the team.

Boasting four returning members from last year’s rotation, an established big-league arm returning from injury and a quartet of big-league ready prospects hungry to show they belong, there was little reason to believe any extra additions would be needed to said group.

Yet, in the early portion of camp, more starters were continually added into the fold.

In the second week of camp, the Pirates signed Andrew Heaney to a one-year, $5.25 million deal. The move, for some, was a head-scratcher, as the Pirates’ roster looked to have other areas of need. Just a few days later, Carmen Mlodzinski surprised reporters following a Grapefruit League game when he stated that his goal for the upcoming season was to transition into a starting pitcher.

As time went on, that additional depth would come in handy. Not long after Heaney’s arrival, the club announced that Johan Oviedo, who was returning from Tommy John surgery, would be sidelined due to a right lat strain. Then, just last week, the club announced that Jared Jones would miss the rest of spring due to right elbow soreness. As of Tuesday morning, the club has provided no indication of when either will be able to return to the field.

With two of the projected five starters on the shelf, the additions of Heaney and Mlodzinski fittingly slid right into the rotation. Both were able to put together a complete body of work this spring, building up the volume needed to reach at least five innings.

While some would have rather seen prospects such as Bubba Chandler or Thomas Harrington on the opening day roster, the Pirates have been clear with their stance of not allowing injuries to change the development plan for their valued young assets. The plan seemed clear from the beginning of camp that there was no desire for any rookie arms to begin 2025 in the major leagues.

Heaney and Mlodzinski perhaps aren’t the long-term answer, but at the very least they allow the Pirates’ prospects to complete their development in the minor leagues, which for some won’t take more than a month or two.

A GOOD SPRING FOR THE BULLPEN Last spring was a total disaster for Derek Shelton’s bullpen. Key contributors such as Colin Holderman and David Bednar both experienced setbacks that led to limited action in spring training, while other reliable arms such as Dauri Moreta were lost for the season due to injury.

The group was unable to completely recover from the many hurdles it faced throughout last year’s preseason. And while only time will tell if the bullpen will be better in 2025, one thing that we do know is that the unit had a much smoother spring this time around.

Unlike the starting rotation, the Pirates bullpen — apologies in advance for the jinx — made it through all of camp without any major injuries. While there were a few relievers whose numbers were undesirable — Bednar (10.13 ERA) and Tim Mayza (5.63 ERA) being the most notable — the majority of the group had a successful showing on the

mound. Returning arms such as Holderman, Dennis Santana, Kyle Nicolas, Joey Wentz and Ryan Borucki all logged at least seven innings of work and finished with ERAs of 2.35 or lower. Non-roster invitee Tanner Rainey can also be included in that category, as could prospect reliever Eddy Yean, who didn’t allow an earned run over 7 1/3 innings of relief.

Santana, Borucki, Holderman, Yean and Rainey all held opposing hitters under a .200 batting average. Caleb Ferguson, another newcomer, also had a good spring in his hybrid role, positing a 3.38 ERA in 13 1/3 innings.

The strong execution throughout the bullpen has led to a series of tough choices when it came to deciding who would receive the eight spots on the opening day roster. Marquee performers such as Nicolas, Yean and Rainey have already been optioned to Triple-A. Others such as Justin Lawerence, Peter Strzelecki, Wentz and Borucki are still waiting to learn their fate.

Although this year’s bullpen features a handful of arms that are aiming to bounce back from a tough 2024 season, the group as a whole is undeniably deeper than last year. Regardless of which players earn the final opening day roster spots, the Pirates will have far more intriguing reinforcement options waiting in Triple-A, something that was clearly missing from last year’s team. There is no way to tell what the ceiling is for this year’s bullpen, but the floor looks to be much higher.

SUWINSKI IS THE BIGGEST X-FACTOR The Pirates’ corner outfield was a major area of focus for fans this offseason, and for good reason.

With the exception of Bryan Reynolds, all other Pirates outfielders provided little to no offensive value in 2024. After acquisitions such as Michael A. Taylor and Bryan De La Cruz both dramatically underwhelmed, fans yearned for a better outfield pickup over the winter, but instead, all that arrived was Tommy Pham on a one-year deal.

While Pham’s work ethic and leadership have been highlighted by many within the clubhouse this spring, his bat likely won’t provide much of a boost to the lineup. He struggled at the dish this spring, tallying just eight hits in 46 at-bats (.174 batting average), and though he will likely be better in the regular season, it’s worth wondering how much.

Pham, however, shouldn’t be expected to be a major offensive contributor. If he can simply be average at the plat, and continue to serve as a leader, he will have done his job. The true X-factor is instead Jack Suwinski, who clearly remains a key part of this organization’s future.

Suwinski received plenty of opportunities this spring and made the most of them, finishing with a .375 batting average and 1.022 OPS over 14 Grapefruit League games.

He arrived in camp as a question to even make the opening day roster, but based on his performance this preseason, he now looks to be deserving of an everyday spot in the lineup.

This isn’t a declaration that the Suwinski of 2023 — the player who hit 26 home runs and posted a 113 OPS+ — has returned. But Suwinski’s at-bats, and overall approach at the plate looked much better compared to what we watched last year.

The hope should be for Suwinski to become the everyday left fielder or, at the very least, a platoon option who starts every game against righthanders. A good season from Suwinski would take the Pirates much further than a good season from Pham. Suwinski’s bat could make a true difference for the Pirates if he can continue to hit the way he did this spring.

WHAT HAPPENS WITH DAVIS?

At this time last year, Henry Davis looked to be the catcher of the future.

He dominated spring training and earned himself not only an opening day roster spot, but a starting job. But not much has gone right for Davis since then.

Coming off a dreadful 2024 season, Davis arrived at camp with a new swing and a far more relaxed attitude. In the early weeks, it seemed hard to see how he would not make the team, based on his efforts behind the plate and at the plate.

But similar to last year’s regular season, Davis was simply out-performed by other catchers on the roster.

Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez were the two catchers to make the opening day roster, the latter doing so despite missing all of last season with an elbow injury.

Though neither is a proven product at the game’s highest level, it’s worth wondering what happens with Davis if the duo ahead of him continues to play better?

Bart, when healthy, is essentially the player the Pirates hope to see Davis become — a power bat behind the plate that can be a staple in the middle-third of a lineup.

Rodriguez boasts less power potential but can hit for a high average and has the highest defensive ceiling of the bunch.

Davis has already proven to be a great player in Triple-A. His next step is showing he can translate his game at the major league level. But aside from injury, how will his opportunity arise? Would it be worth having Bart learn a new position, or committing Rodriguez to first base, his secondary position, to simply give Davis another shot as a backup? Or will this eventually lead to Davis being moved to another position again, similar to what unfolded his rookie year in 2023?

It’s still too early to give up on Davis. He is a first overall pick, only 25 years old and has played fewer than 100 games in the major leagues. However, it’s fair to wonder if he will ever meet his potential in Pittsburgh. This has to be the year he answers that question. And he will only have a chance to do so if one of the two players ahead of him on the depth chart provides that opportunity.

FIRST BASE REMAINS A CONCERN Spencer Horwitz was acquired in December to solve the Pirates’ yearto- year issue at first base.

But a wrist injury sustained less than a month prior to the start of camp prevented the newcomer from playing a single game this spring training.

Horwitz remains on track to return to game play in the six-to-eight week window the team originally provided on the first day of camp. If he can continue to recover on schedule, he can likely be in the lineup by the end of April. But it’s worth wondering what type of player the Pirates will be getting when he makes his return.

This marks Horwitz’s first chance at being an everyday player at the game’s highest level. At 27, he has played in just 112 major league games.

He boasts potential, with Fangraphs projecting him to be one of the club’s most productive hitters this season, but this year will be a bigger challenge after missing all of spring training.

Horwitz will need an extended rehab assignment to get up to speed.

Even if that goes well, he will still be playing catchup for at least his first full month in the majors. All of this will coincide with him continuing to monitor a wrist that required surgery. That seems like a tall task for even the game’s top talents.

But despite all of those hurdles, Horwitz, for now, remains the best option at first base this season. The team provided more than a dozen players with an opportunity throughout spring training, but from prospects to non-roster invitees, no one rose to the occasion.

Instead, it will likely be the duo of Jared Triolo and Endy Rodriguez who split time at first base until Horwitz can return.

While Triolo’s defense provides value and Rodriguez can perhaps do the same offensively, neither is a legitimate everyday option at that position, a reality that applies throughout the entire organization.

Horwitz, a player who is recovering from injury and has yet to play more than 97 games in a major league season, is the only true first baseman in the organization. The gamble the club took to acquire him — one that included trading a 3.1 WAR pitcher with years of control, along with a pair of prospects — looks to be even more sizable now.

If he works out, great.

If not, the Pirates — as we learned this spring — have no true backup plan. An external addition will be needed, one that likely will come in the form of a post-prime veteran on a one-year deal — the exact type of transaction the club hoped to avoid when it traded for Horwitz.