With David Bednar unavailable, Pirates bullpen suffers another blow

Just when David Bednar looked like he was positioned to become the closer for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Derek Shelton didn’t call his number late in any of the three games against the Washington Nationals.

Shelton said Sunday that Bednar wasn’t a consideration.

“Right now, he is not available,” Shelton said. “He’s dealing with some right side discomfort. So he was not available.”

If Bednar is out for an extended period, the Pirates will have to lean on other relievers in high-leverage situations. Shelton used Nick Mears and Chad Kuhl in Friday’s 4-3 win, then turned to Chasen Shreve, Shelby Miller and Chris Stratton in the late innings in the 10-7 win Saturday.

“We’ll kind of play it, mix and match and play the leverage,” Shelton said. “We saw Shelby do it (Saturday) night, Shreve has done it. Chad’s been there. Mears has been there recently. So we have different guys who we will kind of mix and match with, depending on availability.”

Bednar, a 6-foot-1, 245-pound right-hander from Mars, has been one of the positive storylines for the Pirates this season. Acquired from San Diego in the three-team trade involving Joe Musgrove, Bednar is 3-1 with a 2.18 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 58 relief appearances this season.

Shelton raved about how Bednar has added a consistent curveball as an out pitch to his “elite” four-seam fastball and splitter. Bednar has 73 strikeouts in 57²⁄₃ innings. His 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings ranks second on the team behind lefty reliever Sam Howard (11.6).

Howard pitched the ninth inning in Sunday’s 6-2 loss to the Nationals after a newcomer made his Pirates debut in the eighth. Shelton turned to right-hander Connor Overton, who was claimed off waivers from Toronto last Monday. Overton threw 11 of his 15 pitches for strikes in a 1-2-3 inning, getting pinch hitter Andrew Stevenson to go down swinging on a changeup and getting flyouts by Adrian Sanchez and Lane Thomas.

“Overton was good, as advertised,” Shelton said. “Changeup’s a very good pitch. We saw him excuse the slider, the fastball was in the zone. We knew he’s a strike-thrower, so good first impression.”

Bednar’s injury is the latest for a Pirates pitching staff that has been riddled with them lately. They lost Trevor Cahill, Chase De Jong, Duane Underwood Jr. and now Steven Brault to season-ending injuries. Kuhl was out for 18 days after testing positive for covid-19 and joined the bullpen upon his return Aug. 20. Starters Bryse Wilson (right arm fatigue) and Dillon Peters (low back strain) also had IL stints.

JT Brubaker (right shoulder inflammation) is eligible to come off Wednesday, though Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said on his weekly radio show Sunday that no decision has been made about whether Brubaker would pitch again this season.

Brault was pulled from Friday’s game after two innings with a recurrence of his left lat strain. Cherington said Brault’s injury is not as severe as the one that sidelined him from spring training until early August, but the Pirates transferred him from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL on Monday afternoon and claimed 25-year-old right-hander Enyel De Los Santos off waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Pirates have healthy starters in Peters, Wilson, Wil Crowe and Mitch Keller, though Shelton said he prefers to keep a six-man starting rotation. They could stretch out Kuhl or Cody Ponce for starts or look to someone at Triple-A Indianapolis like Max Kranick for a start.

The bullpen has right-handed relievers in Kuhl, Mears, Miller, Overton, Ponce, Stratton, Kyle Keller and Luis Oviedo and lefties in Anthony Banda, Howard, Shreve and the addition of De Los Santos. Shea Spitzbarth also could be a candidate to be recalled from Indianapolis.

Despite the revolving door on the IL, Pirates shortstop Kevin Newman said the team has kept the pitching injuries to become a distraction by using a “next-man-up” mentality.

“I’d say we have a pretty good outlook on it, in terms of it doesn’t bring (down) the clubhouse, doesn’t make us feel like we’re not in games,” Newman said. “Injuries are part of the game, so when a guy goes down, obviously, you feel for the guy. You hope it’s nothing serious, and they can get back out there as soon as possible.”