Brandan Bidois was about 11 or 12 years old, a kid with big league dreams, when he got fellow Australian and former MLB relief pitcher Grant Balfour to sign a baseball card for him.
Balfour wrote on the card: “Good luck with your career.”
A little more than a decade later, Bidois’ baseball career is taking him to the Majors.
The Pirates called up the 24-year-old right-handed pitcher on Tuesday. He will take a spot in the Bucs’ bullpen and become the third active Australian-born player in MLB, joining Guardians rookie Travis Bazzana and Nationals infielder Curtis Mead. The Brisbane native will also be the first Australian-born player in Pirates history.
“Just super grateful. I’m not just representing myself, I’m representing my people, my coaches, my family and everyone that has come before me and is going to be after me,” said Bidois prior to the Pirates opening a three-game home series with the Rockies. “We have a small group that plays baseball, and I know it’s growing exponentially every single year, and I just want to continue to help provide a pathway and ways to grow the game over there.”
In a corresponding move, righty Cam Sanders was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. The Pirates also placed catcher Joey Bart on the 10-day injured list (left foot infection), retroactive to May 10, and recalled catcher/first baseman Endy Rodríguez from Indianapolis.
Bidois has made 15 appearances this season with Indianapolis, recording a 7.20 ERA with 23 strikeouts over 15 innings. But that doesn’t tell the full story of why he deserves a shot in The Show.
“Obviously, it hasn’t gone the greatest if you look at the numbers and stuff like that, but I’d look at it as adversity, and adversity is a privilege,” Bidois said. “I’ve gone through some trials and tribulations this year and just kind of finding myself in that moment and knowing how to pick myself back up in those moments, there’s no place better to do it than down there. So when you get up here, you know what you gotta do, and I’m just going to bring that winning attitude to the team. We’ll see what I can do.”
Over a six-week stretch last year, Bidois was literally unhittable. He faced 64 batters from July 29-Sept. 9, 2025, and none of them got a hit. Bidois’ streak spanned 18 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. For context, only Hall of Famers Cy Young (1904, 24 innings) and Dennis Eckersley (1977, 21 innings) had longer hitless streaks in the Majors since the start of the Modern Era (1900).
Bidois pitched at all four full-season levels in 2025 and finished the year with a 0.74 ERA, an 0.80 WHIP and 69 K’s in 61 innings. He was an easy choice when the Pirates’ organization named its Reliever of the Year.
A converted infielder who signed with Pittsburgh in 2019, Bidois has a three-pitch mix that is focused around a four-seam fastball that is averaging 96.8 mph and 20 inches of induced vertical break this year. He has thrown that pitch 63.1% of the time while also flashing a slider and a changeup. Opposing hitters are 1-for-15 against those non-fastballs this season.
Bidois was added to the Pirates’ 40-man roster in November. He earned the save in Pittsburgh’s Spring Breakout game against the Tigers on March 20. Now he’s ready for his big league debut.