PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It started as the cool story of a young pitcher returning home. Hey look, this guy David Bednar is coming to the Pirates in the Joe Musgrove trade. He went to Mars HS where his dad is the coach and loved the Bucs.
Now an All-Star, Bednar has a 19-year MLB veteran saying he’s never played with a better closer.
Rich Hill is one who normally measures his thoughts. Starting his career when George Bush (the younger) was in office, the 43-year-old says in all the years that included Kesley Jansen and Jonathan Papelbon, he’s never had a better closer than Bednar.
“I think that's something where you see that mix of pitches that he is able to use and execute is special,” Hill said. “I know it's early for David and his career, but you can see that conviction and that confidence and that's something that you want in your closer and that's something that we're fortunate to have."
Catcher Austin Hedges has been in Major League Baseball for nine years. He said it’s ‘awesome’ to catch Bednar, saying it’s because he has so many options when catching him.
“Obviously, he’s got an amazing fastball that he beats a lot of guys with but the curveball and splitter are outstanding,” Hedges said. “Not a lot of closers can pitch as well as he can. He can truly pitch. It’s not just fastballs up, breaking balls down. He can hit his spots and pitch to dudes, which is really special.”
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"I pride myself on throwing any pitch in any count and you know I think that really comes with just having intent with everything and just being aggressive and really just having that mantra of just filling up the zone and the hitters can feel that and you know, that's something I try and do,” Bednar said.
“David with the fastball that he has and the ability to command that breaking ball, command that split-finger that falls off the table,” Hill said. “It's a cutter that he throws, cutter-slider that to me, it's four extremely impressive pitches that most times, you might see closer have two. So now, trying to cover four is a tall task to ask of hitters in that ninth inning."
The numbers bear that out. No closer in the game has a better WHIP (0.74) than Bednar. In 24 innings, the 28-year-old has walked ONE. He’s struck out 30 with 13 saves and only one blown opportunity. Last year, Bednar saved 19 with a 2.61 ERA, 1.12 WHIP as he followed up his first full season where he finished eighth in Rookie of the Year voting with a 2.23 ERA and 0.97 WHIP.
“I think he’s become one of the elite closers in the game,” said Pirates Manager Derek Shelton. “We talk about our bullpen now in terms of guys pitching themselves into roles. Beddy pitched himself into a role. Last year he pitched in the sixth and seventh. He moved himself to the back of the game. With the stuff that we’re seeing, the ability to execute three pitches, we’re looking at one of the elite closers in the game.”
“It’s amazing what he’s capable of,” Hedges said. “He’s up there with the best closers in the league right now.”
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When asked about all of the compliments. All of the praise coming the way of a 35th round pick out of Lafayette College.
"It just means that they trust me and that's all I can do is I can just go out there and throw, have the trust of my manager, have the trust of my teammates to go out there and finish the job," Bednar said.