The Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen has been shaky to start the 2026 season. While Isaac Mattson, Dennis Santana, and Gregory Soto have been rock solid, the same can’t be said for the rest of their relievers. Justin Lawrence was dominant last year, but has struggled this year. Yohan Ramirez has both dominated and struggled at times. The Bucs have also had a revolving door of arms between Hunter Barco, Jose Urquidy, Evan Sisk, and Cam Sanders. However, the Pirates called up one of their top prospects, Wilber Dotel, to hopefully add some stability to the bullpen. It’s now Dotel’s time to shine and step up for the Bucs’ bullpen.
Prospect on the rise
The young right-hander entered 2026 as the Bucs’ tenth-best prospect on Baseball America and 12th-best on MLB Pipeline. Dotel earned that status after putting up a 4.15 ERA, 3.89 FIP, and 1.23 over 125.2 innings for Double-A Altoona last season. He struck out just under a quarter of opponents with a 24.5% K%, and had an 8% BB%. That is a massive improvement over his 11.6% BB% in 2024.
Dotel made his MLB debut in the series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday, the 19th. Although he gave up a home run to Junior Caminero (who hit 45 long balls as a rookie last year), Dotel got the next three batters out. That included getting Jonathan Aranda to strikeout, inducing a ground ball from Yandy Diaz, and making Cedric Mullins fly out to center field. Dotel fared well against players who have proven themselves in the past.
Wilber Dotel, the @Pirates‘ No. 12 prospect, secures his first MLB K on a 98.6 mph heater! pic.twitter.com/k8kgklR7oO
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) April 19, 2026
Dotel’s high-quality stuff can give him multiple roles in 2026
There’s no doubt Dotel has the stuff to be a high-end reliever for the Pirates. Dotel was sitting at 96 MPH as a starter last year, and hit triple-digits. Unsurprisingly, he topped out at 99.8 MPH in his MLB debut with his four-seam fastball. Dotel’s only fastball he used in his debut was his four-seamer, but he can also throw a two-seam fastball. His mid-to-upper-80s slider is his go-to breaking pitch, and the only other offering he tossed against Rays hitters. Dotel also utilizes a splitter as his off-speed offering. His FanGraphs Stuff+ in his debut clocked in at an impressive 114.
Dotel emerging as a legit relief pitching option for the Pirates could be massive for their bullpen. The right-hander is stretched out like a starting pitcher, so the Pirates can use him for multiple innings if needed. He also has the stuff that can play in a high-leverage role if he is tasked to do so. Dotel’s stuff is far ahead of Hunter Barco’s stuff, so he has a better chance of succeeding, and he had a better walk rate than Barco last season.
Given how shaky the Pirates’ pen is to start 2026, Dotel becoming a reliable reliever would be a major development for the Bucs. The Pirates need another arm they can depend upon that isn’t Mattson, Soto, Santana, and sometimes Mason Montgomery. They also need an arm that can go multiple innings. Dotel can fit both roles if he becomes one of the Pirates’ better rookies this year.
(Top Image Credit: THOMAS BENDER/HERALD-TRIBUNE
/ USA TODAY NETWORK)
