The tale that is the 2022 Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen can probably be told in two halves – before David Bednar registered 50 pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers, and how he did after before landing on the injured list.
Bednar’s struggles after that night and eventually IL stint exposed what we all expected – the bullpen was very much thin behind him. Some of the better stories of the season, Wil Crowe and Yerry De Los Santos, either fell to injuries or was ineffective in a higher leverage role.
That’s led to the Pirates having the third worst bullpen ERA, issuing the second walks and fifth highest opponent’s average.