BRADENTON, Fla. – Mitch Keller can’t wait to board a plane and fly to New York City for Opening Day against the Mets.
He’s hardly alone, either.
“Everybody’s kind of there, ready for some competition,” Keller said.
In a way, the Pirates aren’t in a markedly different spot than back in February, when Spring Training started. Offense will drive the bus. Whether offseason improvements click or not will determine a great deal.
But don’t forget about the pitching. Never forget about the pitching.
It’s always a sizable storyline, and it’s no different as everyone begins packing bags and fearing the return of cold weather. Before that happens, though, let’s examine what we’ve learned about the Pirates' starting rotation in Spring Training.
Roles will be fluid
Some MLB teams have a set rotation and can expect a normal number of innings from all five spots. The Pirates are not one of those teams.
Paul Skenes and Keller will be treated as regular starters, but there will be some level of creativity with the rest. Expect Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft to make regular starts, as they should. The change comes with the number of innings they’ll be permitted to throw.
Roughly 150 for Chandler and 140 for Ashcraft, if they bump by roughly 20 year over year.
That means a third group of starters, piggybacks, bulk guys, tweeners or whatever inventive adjective you want to pick. Carmen Mlodzinski is the most logical member of that group and has pitched to a 2.92 ERA this spring.
Mike Clevinger is also right there at 4.38. He’d force the Pirates to open a roster spot, but he has the right combination of stuff and experience that it would likely be worth it.
José Urquidy hasn’t been as good numbers-wise, but can be sent to the Minor Leagues. Hunter Barco is the lone lefty starting option. It might make a lot of sense to keep him around for that reason.
“We believe in the group,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “We’ve seen this spring that we’ve got guys with pitch qualities and the ability to execute to get Major League hitters out. It’s just a matter of how we’re going to use them all.”
New pitches
New pitches are a consistent theme of Spring Training, regardless of team. It’s been no different with the Pirates.
Barco was an overachiever this winter and incorporated three new offerings into his arsenal: a sinker, sweeper and changeup. They’ve been very good and give him a well-rounded pitch mix.
However, the best singular development might be Mlodzinski’s splitter.
It’s something he learned while talking to David Bednar and a pitch he perfected in Hawaii. It also helped save Mlodzinski’s season in 2025 and may enable him to fare better as a starter this time around.
Keller debuted a reworked changeup. It looks perfectly suitable for regular-season action.
Guys love Bill Murphy
Seemingly every single pitcher over the past six weeks has gushed about new pitching coach Bill Murphy. A lot of times it’s his transparency, how easy Murphy is to talk to or how he’s able to straddle the line between numbers and old-school coaching.
It’s exactly what the Pirates hoped they were getting, too.
But as the Pirates built one of the better pitching programs in MLB, they weren’t satisfied. They wanted to be elite. They knew it could be their team identity. It's hard to be anything other than impressed with what Murphy has done thus far.
“Great guy,” Mason Montgomery said. “I love working with him. He’s real easy to talk to. He knows what he’s talking about.”
Feeling the heat
Another storyline with Pirates pitchers this spring involves heat — and it has nothing to do with the sunshine. It’s fastball command and the importance of it.
Chandler learned this in his last outing, when he struck out eight in five innings of one-run ball against the Braves on March 12.
Henry Davis called 18 consecutive four-seamers because he wanted Chandler to work on command and was dead set on challenging his guy to get it right. Chandler did. Others have shown the value of it, too.
Clevinger was up over 95 mph routinely with his heater, a nod to finally having a clean bill of health. Injuries have limited Clevinger a bunch in recent years. But he went to Driveline this winter and feels like a completely different pitcher.
The results have shown. Pitching off a fastball that topped out at 96.4 mph in his last outing, Clevinger has seen his changeup play up while his “bread and butter” pitch, the sweeper, has been consistently sharp.
This is Skenes’ team
We probably didn’t need Spring Training to discern this one — OK, it was definitely unnecessary — but there’s zero questioning the fact that this is Skenes’ team.
He’s their leader, Mlodzinski and Keller said in no uncertain terms.
Skenes spent the offseason helping some younger Pirates pitchers. He’s been a mentor, a support system, everything you’d want in a franchise player. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner has also been impactful when it comes to how the Pirates operate, whether that’s technology available, prep work, how they travel and more.
Skenes is the oldest 23-year-old on the planet, and absolutely the most identifiable part of the organization. Just imagine how that mystique will grow if the Pirates are contending for a playoff spot this August.
Jason Mackey: Jason.Mackey@pirates.com and @JMackey_PGH on X.