Pirates A to Z: David Bednar developed into hometown hero, All-Star and, finally, a closer

During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical, player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Miguel Andujar to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: David Bednar

Position: Closer

Throws: Right

Age: 29 (Oct. 10)

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 250 pounds

2022 MLB statistics: Went 3-4 with a 2.61 ERA and 1.12 WHIP and a team-best 19 saves, recording 69 strikeouts against 16 walks in 51 2/3 innings over 45 appearances.

Contract: Pre-arbitration eligible.

Acquired: From San Diego in a three-team trade that sent pitcher Joe Musgrove to the Padres in January 2021.

This past season: When the season started, David Bednar had hopes of sharing the ninth-inning duties with Chris Stratton and establishing himself as a back-end bullpen fixture.

It didn’t take long for Bednar to capture the closer’s role.

Bednar was named National League reliever of the month after going 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA and 0.74 WHIP with 21 strikeouts and two walks over 16 1/3 innings in 12 appearances in May. He finished his marvelous month by testing his limits with a 50-pitch outing in a 6-5 win at the Los Angeles Dodgers on May 30, the perfect punctuation to the Pirates’ first sweep at Dodger Stadium in two decades.

Not only did Bednar borrow the Steelers anthem “Renegade” by Styx as his entrance song, the Pirates even made a hype video and light show to introduce the Mars High alum as their closer.

David Bednar has a new walkout intro pic.twitter.com/BCQyNRa0QU

— /inny ????️uffone (@Veno202) May 20, 2022

Bednar was selected to his first All-Star Game, where he got to pitch the ninth inning, and also was the Pirates’ nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award for his charity work in the community.

“When you have stability at the end of the game and you have the opportunity to win, it’s something that you lean on,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We’ve leaned on David, and he’s presented himself in such a good way and won that award but that stability at the end of the game is extremely important for a young club.”

The Pirates might have leaned too hard on Bednar, though, as he pitched multiple innings in 11 of his first 25 appearances. He ultimately spent seven weeks on the injured list with low back tightness before returning in late September.

The downtime allowed Bednar to learn a valuable lesson in his second full major league season. His metrics showed signs of regression, as his hard hit rate jumped from 31.4% to 46% and ranked in the fourth percentile among major league pitchers.

Bednar still had a high velocity and 92% whiff rate but, per Statcast, saw increases in his expected batting average (.189 to .224), slugging percentage (.304 to .349) and ERA (2.51 to 3.22).

Pirates bullpen coach Justin Meccage said Bednar learned from the late-game situations, especially how to manage his workload and pitch mix. Where he relied more on his curveball in 2021 as a complement to his four-seam fastball, Bednar’s splitter was more effective this past season as hitters batted .182 against it.

“I think he’s performed extremely well,” Shelton said. “I’m happy that he was able to battle back and pitch and be able to pitch and leverage situations at the end of the game. He is a really big piece to our bullpen moving forward. We saw that with how effective he was earlier in the year. The thing that really stands out for me is how he’s developed into a guy that’s able to pitch with three pitches; you don’t see a lot of guys at the back end of the game who have the ability to do that. A lot of people get enamored with 96-97 mph, but the ability to throw the curveball and use a split is really important for us.”

It makes Bednar more difficult to game-plan against. And his time on the IL allowed Bednar a different view of late-inning situations, even if it was agonizing to watch his replacements struggle to protect leads.

“Just a little extra emphasis on staying healthy throughout the year and how important it is that availability is your best ability,” Bednar said. “I think you kind of take just being healthy for granted. As cliché as it is, pitching in the big leagues is an honor. You never want to take that for granted. I never do, but I think that really puts it in perspective while taking some time off, not being in there everyday.

“You’re able to see the game from a different perspective than I would be in the bullpen or when you’re locked in on trying to be ready for that game. You’re able to slow it down and you’re able to see how guys are attacking different hitters and see how they’re reading each pitch and everything like that.”

Overall, it was a positive season for Bednar. He earned the trust of Shelton, Meccage and pitching coach Oscar Marin because of his mentality that close games are his to finish.

Bednar is ready when the call from the dugout comes.

“Whenever the phone rings, I’m ready to go,” Bednar said. “Whenever they want me to be in there, I’ll be more than willing to just go out there and get some outs.”

The future: As effective as Bednar was in the ninth inning — and he was absolutely dominant at times in the first half — Shelton has been reluctant to ordain him the Pirates’ closer.

“I think we have a guy that we know is gonna pitch in high-leverage situations,” Shelton said. “To say it’s gonna be the ninth … it may be, but also, depending on what we acquire or how we do things. … But I think to the guts of your question, the fact that we have somebody we know can do that is really important.”

As much as Bednar’s name was involved in trade rumors at the deadline last July and early August, that the Pirates didn’t deal him was a positive sign. He’s one season away from his first year of arbitration, so they could try to sign him to a long-term contract.

Most of all, the Pirates go into next season knowing they have someone they can count on to close out tight games in Bednar.

“The ninth inning is different, in a lot of ways — its energy, its emotion — and not everybody is capable of handling that situation,” Meccage said. “Bednar’s got ice in his veins. … That’s going to be nice, to have a full season as a closer under his belt and, hopefully, hit the ground running next year.”