Pirates' David Bednar discusses struggles, demotion

David Bednar’s struggles had reached epic proportions (the Pittsburgh Pirates ex-closer owned an ERA of 10.97 in 11 appearances in August). Since the All-Star break, the Bucs’ two-time all-star has been downright miserable after a first half that saw him convert 19 consecutive save opportunities during one stretch.

But the 29-year-old right-hander and Mars product acknowledges injuries have befuddled him since spring training.

Still, Bednar said he’s not using it as an excuse for his second-half collapse that has led to a 3-7 record, a 6.32 ERA in 47 innings and six blown saves in 50 appearances and forcing manager Derek Shelton’s hand.

“It stinks, especially when I was rolling,” Bednar said Saturday on the SportsNet Pittsburgh pregame show, a day after he was pulled from the Pirates closer’s role. “But it’s not an excuse to get to this point. I’ve just got to execute better.”

How so?

“Just taking it one day at a time. Simplify as much as possible. One pitch at a time. One outing at a time. And not getting too far ahead of myself.”

Bednar said his problems mainly are mechanical in nature, though he didn’t get specific.

Shelton has said the team would use a bullpen-by-committee approach, and it began Friday night at Progressive Field in Cleveland, when the Bucs used two relievers in a 10-8 loss to the Guardians.

Could the Pirates have used a sound Bednar out of their bullpen at any juncture to settle things down? Cleveland erased a two-run deficit with four runs against Carmen Mlodzinski then extended an 8-7 lead to 10-7 with a pair of eighth-inning runs against Domingo German, who was working his third inning after two scoreless.

“It’s frustrating, obviously,” Bednar said. “I’m not executing at the rate that I’d like to at all, and obviously it’s shown in the performance.”

During the Pirates’ fourth consecutive loss, they’d averaged nearly eight runs while the pitching staff was floundering.

Bednar is looking forward to getting back into the closer’s role, whenever that may be, and insisted a few small tweaks are all that are needed.

“I have complete confidence I’ll be back and return to form,” he said. “My stuff still is there. I’ve just got to execute better, make some mechanical adjustments and just execute more consistently to get in my groove.”

Until then, Shelton likely will mix and match his bullpen usage, possibly settling on Aroldis Chapman as the primary closer. His 56 appearances lead the team.

Shelton has expressed confidence in Bednar’s ability to get back on track while acknowledging the difficulty in making such a decision to pull Bednar from the closer’s spot.

“It’s something that can take a little pressure off him. We know that this guy’s been really good over the last couple years. He’s scuffling a little bit,” Shelton said. “He understands it. I empathize with him. He understands he’s struggling. He understands that there’s some things that he has to do to get back to where we want him to be. I’m sure he’ll work hard at doing that.”

Bednar, after blowing a combined seven saves over his two All-Star seasons, has failed to convert six of 29 save opportunities this season. He also has allowed a career-high eight homers after giving up a total of seven in 2022 and ’23 combined.

“One thing that’s keeping me sane is I know I’m going to get past this,” Bednar said. “As frustrating as it is, that’s the one thing that’s keeping me positive. I know I’m going to get back to that (closer’s) spot and be back to who I am and what makes me great. It’s coming. That’s all.”