The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen is about as frustrating as it can get. Since the start of May, Pirates relievers have the third-worst ERA in baseball. They also have bottom-ten FIP, WHIP, BB%, and barrel percentage. They have allowed the fifth most earned runs in the seventh inning or later this season. Unfortunatley, the lack of success is going to have to either fix itself, or hold itself together enough until the trade market starts becoming more active. The lack of bullpen success is making Pirates fans reminisce about when the Pirates had a general manager who excelled at bullpen construction. His name was Neal Huntington. While he did plenty of wrong during his tenure as the Bucs’ GM, one thing nobody can criticize him on is his ability to put together a strong core of relievers.
Neal Huntington’s Impressive Pirates Bullpens
Nobody Prospects To Top Relievers
Many of Huntington’s most reliable relievers during his time as general manager were nothing more than afterthoughts. For example, Tony Watson pitched the most innings as a reliever for the Pirates during the 2010s. While Huntington’s predecessor, Dave Littlefield, drafted Watson, most of Watson’s development occurred under the new GM’s regime. Watson was a ninth-round pick and would go on to pitch in 11 seasons from 2011 through 2021. Seven of those seasons were spent in Pittsburgh. In that time, Watson recorded a 2.90 ERA (136 ERA+), 21.8% K%, 6.6% BB%, went to one All-Star game, and set the record for the most holds ever with 236. His 13.1 bWAR is still the most ever by a Pirates’ 9th round pick.
Then you had Jared Hughes. Hughes was one of the Pirates’ many quality middle relief/set-up arms. The right-hander pitched for the Pirates from 2011 through 2016, working to a 2.82 ERA, and appeared in at least 60 contests in four of his six seasons with the Pirates. Hughes was a late-bloomer, as the fourth-rounder did not become a full-time member of the Pirates’ bullpen until his age-26 season.
Closers Nobody Paid Much Attention To
The Pirates’ closer for a majority of Huntington’s time as GM was Mark Melancon. The Bucs acquired Melancon from the Boston Red Sox after he came off a season where he had an ERA over 6.00 over 45 innings. Melancon blossomed into one of the best relievers in baseball with the Pirates. He tossed 260.1 innings with the Pirates, working to a 1.80 ERA (210 ERA+), struck out 23.8% of opponents, and only had a walk rate of 4.1% of batters. Melancon saved 130 games for the Pirates and set a franchise record in saves in 2015 with 51.
Melancon wasn’t their only closer. He took over for Jason Grilli. Grilli was another scrapheap pick-up. Prior to the Pirates’ signing Grilli midway through 2011, the right-hander had not pitched in 2010 and had been released by the Philadelphia Phillies’ Triple-A affiliate earlier in 2011. He owned just a 4.74 ERA and 97 ERA+ before joining the Pirates. However, over his first three years in black and gold, Grilli posted a 2.74 ERA, struck out over a third of opponents (34.3% K%), and only had a 8.5% BB%. Grilli also made the 2013 All-Star game as the Pirates’ closer. He was in his age-34 season when he made his Pirates debut.
Grilli’s predecessor was Joel Hanrahan. The Bucs acquired Hanrahan from the Washington Nationals in the midst of a season in which he had a 7.71 ERA, 1.96 WHIP, and -1.1 bWAR over 32.2 innings. After joining the Pirates, Hanrahan would pitch to a 2.59 ERA, 2.98 FIP, and 1.20 WHIP in 229.1 innings. The right-hander would have an impressive 27.7% K%, albeit walks still gave him some troubles, with a 10.3% BB%. Still, Hanrahan saved 82 games for the Pirates and went to back-to-back All-Star games in 2011 and 2012. The Pirates would trade Hanrahan to the Red Sox in the same trade that landed them Melancon.
From Scrap To Silver Middle Relievers
It wasn’t just the high-leverage closers and set-up guys he could find with ease. Many of their middle and long relievers were nobodies before the Pirates acquired them. Take Jeanmar Gomez as an example. Gomez put up an ERA+ under 90 in each of his first three MLB seasons with Cleveland. They traded him to the Pirates for Quincy Latimore, and the right-hander became a key multi-inning/spot starter reliever. He tossed 142.2 innings with the Pirates over 78 games, eight of which were starts. Gomez amounted to a 3.09 ERA and 109 ERA+ while wearing black and gold.
Vin Mazzaro is another prime example. He pitched 73.2 innings with the Pirates in 2013. He had a 2.81 ERA and 137 ERA+. However, prior to 2013, Mazzaro had a career 81 ERA+ with the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals. His best ERA+ was 96 in 122.1 innings in 2010. Three of his first four MLB seasons saw him post an ERA over 5.00. The Pirates only had to trade two minor league pitchers, one of whom would never pitch in MLB, and the other whose MLB career totaled fewer than 50 innings.
Arquimedes Caminero was a key member of the Pirates’ 2015 bullpen, as he pitched 74.2 innings. The Pirates purchased his contract from the Miami Marlins that offseason, and would go on to post a 3.62 ERA and 108 ERA+, with a 3.80 FIP in ‘15. Although the flamethrower had some impressive stuff, the Pirates acquired him after he put up a 4.86 ERA at the Marlins’ Triple-A affiliate the year prior.
Richard Rodriguez was the best reliever Huntington left Cherington. A minor league signee, Rodriguez would pitch to a 2.98 ERA (141 ERA+) with a 27.2% K% in parts of four MLB seasons with the Bucs from 2018 through the 2021 trade deadline. However, before his tenure in Pittsburgh, Rodriguez’s MLB career amounted to just 5.2 innings with the Baltimore Orioles in 2017, and would not exceed his rookie status until his age-27 season in 2018.
Mid-Season Reinforcements Were Always Good
Although Huntington never made major mid-season moves for a reliever (he never truly needed to), many of his additions during the summer turned out well. Kyle Farnsworth pitched well in limited action after the Pirates signed him in mid-August in 2013. John Axford pitched well down the line after the Bucs picked him off waivers from Cleveland in 2014. His best moves were in 2015, when he traded for Joakim Soria and claimed Joe Blanton off waivers at the end of July. The two combined for an outstanding 1.77 ERA, 27.5% K%, and 7% BB% over a combined 61 innings. The Pirates only gave up Jacoby Jones between both.
Other Noteworthy Trades
Huntington almost always knew how to get the most out of any trade involving a reliever. In 2010, he traded veteran Octavio Dotel to the LA Dodgers for James McDonald. Then before the 2014 season, he traded left-hander Justin Wilson to the New York Yankees, and received catcher Francisco Cervelli in return. The next offseason, he traded minor league pitcher Joely Rodriguez to the Philadelphia Phillies for Antonio Bastardo. Then in 2017, he moved Tony Watson on an expiring deal for now current Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz.
Historic Bullpens
The Pirates had some of the best bullpens of all time under Huntington. Their 2013 pen ties the record for the most relievers who pitched at least 50 innings and had an ERA under 3.00, with five hurlers. That doesn’t even account for Bryan Morris and Jeanmar Gomez, both of whom pitched at least 65 innings with an ERA under 3.50. The 2015 Pirates also led MLB in players who met the same criteria (50 IP, less than one start, ERA below 3.00) with four relievers.
Huntington was far from a perfect GM. He made plenty of mistakes, even when it came to the bullpen, too. But he had far more success building a strong core of relievers in a few years than Cherington has had since taking over as the Pirates’ GM in the 2019-2020 offseason, and getting a full season of work in 2021. Hopefully, Ben can take some notes from Huntington and learn from what the pen has done so far this year to improve it in the near future.
Main Photo: Charles LeClaire- Imagn Images
