PITTSBURGH -- Pirates right-handed pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski was placed on the restricted list before Sunday’s series finale against the Twins. General manager Ben Cherington told reporters that Mlodzinski informed the team Sunday morning that he wasn’t ready to pitch.
The 27-year-old was moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen after Jared Jones returned from a right UCL injury in Friday’s game. The Pirates planned to use Mlodzinski out of the bullpen in a bulk role with the possibility of starting again in 2026 if needed. As a starter, he worked a 3.76 ERA this season.
Following Saturday's win over Minnesota, manager Don Kelly had said that Mlodzinski had been unavailable, but was scheduled to be deployed after Braxton Ashcraft in Sunday’s game. Mlodzinski has not requested a trade, and Cherington believes he’ll pitch for the Pirates on the road trip that ends June 7.
A source told MLB.com that the move was because Mlodzinski felt he wasn’t physically or mentally ready to help the team win in his new role just yet. Rather than force the Bucs to play a man short, he was honest with the team. The source also said that Mlodzinski seems to be on board with his role in the bullpen, and is prepared to pitch in Houston on Tuesday, following Monday's off-day.
“Confident that we're going to see him pitch for this team very soon, but he wasn't ready to do that today,” Cherington said. “I think going into the weekend we understood and communicated with Carmen that at some point this weekend we were going to need him to be ready or we're going to have to replace him on the team, in fairness to the team. So that's what happened.”
Kelly informed Mlodzinski of the decision to move him to the bullpen rather than fellow starter Bubba Chandler on Wednesday. When reporters asked Mlodzinski on Thursday about the decision, he didn’t say much and said he would be working with his team about what’s next.
“Honestly, I'm just still communicating with the organization and the people in my corner, whether that's my family and my agency, about what's next, and I really don't have any comments after that,” Mlodzinski said.