When spring training 2018 began for the Pittsburgh Pirates the bullpen had plenty of options. It appeared that Felipe Vazquez, George Kontos, Michael Feliz, Dovydas Neverauskas, and Edgar Santana would be the pitchers anchoring the ‘pen in 2018.
While some of this proved to be true, as fans see every year in baseball, there was also some serious turnover in the Pirate bullpen. By the end of the season the team had one of the best bullpens in the National League and a big reason for the bullpen’s success was the player who has been named Rum Bunter’s 2018 Pittsburgh Pirates’ Rookie of the Year – Richard Rodriguez.