{"id":122850,"date":"2026-05-27T22:54:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T02:54:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=122850"},"modified":"2026-05-28T00:14:38","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T04:14:38","slug":"pirates-bullpen-dotel-bidois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/27\/pirates-bullpen-dotel-bidois\/","title":{"rendered":"Pirates Bullpen Taking Shape, Led By Two Flamethrowers"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/16\/pirates-bullpen-no-help\/\" target=\"_self\">The Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 bullpen has struggled<\/a> for the most part of 2026. Arms they relied on heavily last year, like <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/mattsis01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-05-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Isaac Mattson<\/a> and <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lawreju01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-05-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Lawrence<\/a>, have not performed nearly as well as they did last year. Their closer during the second half of 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/28\/is-it-time-for-the-pirates-to-worry-about-dennis-santana\/\" target=\"_self\">Dennis Santana, has shown some red flags<\/a>. However, as we head into the first month of summer, the Pirates\u2019 bullpen is beginning to take shape, and leading that charge are two rookie flamethrowers. Those players include <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dotelwi01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-05-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wilber Dotel<\/a> and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/register\/player.fcgi?id=bidois000bra\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandan Bidois<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBczE1rAji\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 5712px; aspect-ratio: 5712\/4284;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h2>Wilber Dotel And Brandan Bidois are Stabilizing the Pirates Bullpen<\/h2>\n<h3>Dotel Takes a Load Off<\/h3>\n<p>Dotel broke out last year at Double-A Altoona, posting a 4.15 ERA, 3.89 FIP, and 1.225 WHIP over 125 2\/3 innings. He lowered his walk rate from 11.6% in 2024 to just 8% in 2025. On top of that, his K% also rose from 22.8% to 24.5%, and his HR\/9 dropped from 1.78 to 1.00. Although Dotel has struggled through 23 2\/3 innings at Triple-A Indianapolis this year, he has looked very promising so far in his first look at the major league level.<\/p>\n<p>The right-hander has only allowed two earned runs over his first 10 2\/3 big league frames. In that time, Dotel has struck out ten batters and has only allowed three to reach via a free pass. Dotel has also allowed only six hits, one of which is a home run. His stuff looks outstanding, sitting at 98.3 MPH. Dotel\u2019s heater plays up even more because of his above-average, 69th percentile extension. His FanGraphs Stuff+ comes in at a quality mark of 105.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Wilber Dotel&#8217;s 2Ks in the 8th <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/auxPr0eFry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/auxPr0eFry<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PitchingNinja\/status\/2058998723716223455?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 25, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Pirates have used Dotel in a multi-inning relief role. After all, he was a starter in the minor leagues, and the bullpen needs as many quality innings as possible. Plus, you can\u2019t rule out Dotel eventually moving into the major league rotation. That is how <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/ashcrbr01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-05-27_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Braxton Ashcraft<\/a> began his big league career as a long reliever\/opener in his first call-up, and has now become one of the best starting pitchers in Major League Baseball.<\/p>\n<h3>Bidois is a Potential Future Closer<\/h3>\n<p>Bidois also had a massive breakout in 2025. The Australian right-hander stayed healthy for an extended period of time for the first time in his pro career since the Pirates signed him in September 2019. Bidois was lights out last year, pitching to a 0.74 ERA, 2.44 FIP, and 0.803 WHIP between all four full-season levels of the minor leagues. Bidois struck out plenty of batters, with a 34.1% K%. Impressively, he did not allow a single home run. However, his 11.7% walk rate did not wow anyone.<\/p>\n<p>Like Dotel, Bidois also did not get off to a fantastic start at Triple-A Indy to open 2026. However, his first seven MLB frames have yielded just two earned runs, seven K\u2019s, and only three walks. The two earned runs Bidois has surrendered both came off solo shots. <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/13\/what-bidois-brings\/\" target=\"_self\">Bidois has some of the best stuff<\/a> in MLB already. His four-seamer sits 97-98 MPH, and comes in with 19.7 inches of induced vertical break, which is the 13th highest among any pitcher who has thrown at least 50 four-seamers this year. His 120 Stuff+ is currently the 11th best among any pitcher with at least five innings this year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&#8220;G&#8217;DAY MATE!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Brandan Bidois has 3 strikeouts, 0 hits, and 0 walks in 1.2 IP tonight (2.57 ERA this year) <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/HxBj751csI\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/HxBj751csI<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Platinum Key (@PlatinumKey13) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PlatinumKey13\/status\/2059438364944695638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 27, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In contrast to Dotel, Bidois is a more traditional reliever who likely will remain in the bullpen in the long run. However, his stuff has the upside of a high-leverage, late-inning reliever. So far, the Pirates have only tasked him with handling lower-leverage assignments. His leverage index comes in at just 0.30 (average leverage is 1.00). But if he keeps pitching well, the Pirates will have no choice but to give him some more important innings to work with.<\/p>\n<p>However, the Pirates\u2019 bullpen is starting to stabilize itself. Dotel and Bidois pitching well in the major leagues means less innings for Lawrence, the Pirates can put Santana on the back burner until he figures things out, and can close out close games more frequently. Dotel on board means the Bucs can get through two or three innings at a time without having to waste another bullpen arm, and Bidois means the Pirates have another potential late-inning arm working his way up the totem pole. Things are starting to trend in the right direction for the Bucs\u2019 pen.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 bullpen has struggled for the most part of 2026. Arms they relied on heavily last year, like Isaac Mattson and Justin Lawrence, have not performed nearly as well as they did last year. Their closer during the second half of 2025, Dennis Santana, has shown some red flags. However, as we head [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5765,"featured_media":121493,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"725","footnotes":""},"categories":[1071,35,26],"tags":[29286,28972,4790,29129,6342,29358],"class_list":["post-122850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb","category-news","category-pirates","tag-brandan-bidois","tag-braxton-ashcraft","tag-dennis-santana","tag-isaac-mattson","tag-justin-lawrence","tag-wilber-dotel"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5765"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122850"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":122922,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122850\/revisions\/122922"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121493"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}