PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – With six weeks left in the season the Pirates only have two pitchers who are considered starters. Pirates GM Ben Cherington is basically holding open tryouts as the season plays out.
“The mindset is to be ready to pitch, aside from (Paul) Skenes and (Mitch) Keller, we are not declaring this pitcher is in the rotation the rest of the way or this pitcher is not,” Cherington said during his radio show on 93.7 The Fan and the Pirates Radio Network.
“We want to keep them in a competitive mode, help the team win. Keep the competition for the starting spots at a high level. That we don’t fall into ‘ok, I got it now’.”
“Keep that standard high.”
That involves Sunday’s starter Carmen Mlodzinski. Even though he hasn’t started a game since May 17, Cherington said the 26-year-old is still in the mix to be a starting pitcher going forward. The results in 2025 show the right-hander is a better reliever (2.55 ERA) than starter (5.67).
“We have a number of guys, both on the major league team currently and potentially in AAA that we wouldn’t mind seeing some starts for here over the stretch of the season,” Cherington said on 93.7 The Fan and the Pirates Radio Network.
That list includes Mike Burrows (who will be approaching an undisclosed innings limit) and Braxton Ashcraft (who Cherington said has done a really good job). He said they are still deciding if they will recall starter Johan Oviedo, who was with the Pirates briefly before being sent back down as he has returned from injury. AAA pitchers Bubba Chandler, Hunter Barco and Thomas Harrington could be a part of that list as well.
Cherington said simply the starts will go to the players that deserve it the most and they will evaluate those decisions weekly. The Bucs GM said they have private conversations with the pitchers as to their thoughts, basically he doesn’t want them counting outs, rather getting outs and that effectiveness will determine their roles.
The plan is to go into Spring Training 2026 with a couple of handfuls of starting options and then let that competition sort out who the other three starters are beyond Skenes and Keller, assuming Keller isn’t traded.
As a quick note, they do still consider Jared Jones a starter. Cherington believes that’s where he brings the most value. Jones is scheduled to resume throwing in the Fall and acknowledges there will likely be pitch counts as he returns to live game action.
Endy still catching
Cherington said despite three distinct elbow injuries, the long-term prognosis is for Endy Rodriguez will remain a catcher. They are aware that something is going on with his elbow, but the best total value Cherington said Rodriguez brings is behind the plate and he will report to Bradenton in February as a catcher.