The Pittsburgh Pirates are using Carmen Mlodzinski as a starter once again. While the results are better than last year, when they first attempted to make him a starter, they are still very mixed. On the surface, his 4.13 ERA, 23.8% K%, and 8.7% walk rate are solid enough numbers for a back-of-the-rotation starter.
He also has a 3.70 SIERA and 3.50 xFIP. However, Mlodzinski has only gone five innings in one start and is still struggling to make it through the order a second time. The first time opponents face Mlodzinski in a game, they have a .220 wOBA against him. However, that rises to .344 the second time through the order. While there are a handful of success stories of relievers transitioning to the rotation, there are also plenty of horror stories the Pirates should take note of, which should not make them hesitant to move Mlodzinski into a different role.
Neftali Feliz
Neftali Feliz broke into the game as one of the best closers in baseball for the Texas Rangers. Between 2010 and 2011, Feliz worked to a 2.73 ERA, 3.25 FIP, and 1.01 WHIP over 131.2 innings of work. Feliz struck out 24% of opponents with a 9.2% walk rate and saved 72 games, the third most saves by an American League closer. The hard-throwing right-hander won Rookie of the Year in 2010, and also made the All-Star game the same year.
However, the Rangers believed Feliz could become a good starting pitcher. After all, he started games in the minor leagues and entered 2010 as a consensus top ten prospect in baseball. Although Feliz had a strong 3.18 ERA as a starter in 2012, he only struck out 21.1% of opponents and posted a walk rate of 13.1%. Things began to fall apart for Feliz. He was placed on the injured list in late May and would eventually undergo Tommy John surgery.
Injuries and underperformance plagued Feliz the next few seasons. After the Rangers designated Feliz for assignment in 2015, he would appear in games for the Detroit Tigers, the Pirates in 2016, Milwaukee Brewers and Kansas City Royals in 2017, along with the Philadelphia Phillies and LA Dodgers in 2021.
Daniel Bard
Daniel Bard became the set-up man for one of the best closing pitchers in the game at the time, Jonathan Papelbon, on the Boston Red Sox. Throughout his first three big league seasons, Bard put up a 2.88 ERA, 3.22 FIP, and 1.06 WHIP over his first 197 innings in the Majors. He had a healthy strikeout rate (especially during 2009-2011) of 26.9%, a 9.6% BB%, and a 0.73 HR/9 ratio.
Although Bard was good enough to get an audition as the Red Sox’s closer in 2012 once Papelbon departed for the Philadelphia Phillies, the Sox planned on using him as a starter. It went about as badly as possible, as Bard performed so poorly, the Red Sox moved him back to the bullpen. Bard posted an ERA of 6.22, walked (15.5% BB%) more batters than he struck out (13.7% K%), and allowed nine home runs. Things only continued to spiral out of control for Bard. He pitched in just two games in 2013 before the Red Sox designated him for assignment in September.
Bard then bounced around pro ball (including a brief stint with the Pirates in 2016), suffering from injuries and the yips. Bard would resurface in MLB in 2020 with the Colorado Rockies and won Comeback Player Of The Year in his first season back. Bard spent parts of four seasons with the Rockies but, unfortunately, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024. Although he appeared in seven games in the Seattle Mariners’ system, Bard retired in July of last season.
Jordan Hicks
Jordan Hicks made headlines as a 21-year-old rookie reliever for the St. Louis Cardinals in 2018, as he was topping out around 105 MPH. Hicks took over as the Cardinals’ closer in the first half of 2019, but Tommy John surgery would sideline him for a while. After opting out of the shortened 2020 pandemic season and missing most of 2021 with injuries, the Cardinals started experimenting with Hicks as a starter.
Hicks only made eight starts and appeared out of the bullpen for 27 games. His starts were awful, with a 5.47 ERA, 17.5% walk rate, and a K% of just 20.8%. Given that Hicks pitched much better out of the bullpen, the Cardinals opted to leave him in a reliever role. That led to his best season to date in 2023, when he posted a 3.19 ERA and 28.4% K%, albeit with an 11.4% walk rate with the Cards and Toronto Blue Jays.
However, the San Francisco Giants signed Hicks and attempted to make him a starter once again. Hicks put up rather middling numbers in 2024, with a 4.10 ERA, 20% K%, and 9.8% BB% in a career-high 109.2 innings pitched. Although the Giants utilized Hicks as a reliever down the stretch, they still attempted to use him as a starter in 2025. It went just as bad with a 6.55 ERA and a K% of 20.3%. At the very least, he only walked 7.9% of batters as a starter in 2025.
The Giants moved Hicks back to the bullpen for four games before he was shipped to the Boston Red Sox in the blockbuster Rafael Devers swap. Hicks struggled in Boston before he was shipped out of town once again, this time to the Chicago White Sox. Hicks has yet to recapture anything close to his 2018, 2019, or 2023 seasons since moving back to the bullpen.
Main Photo Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images
