2:40pm: The Pirates have made it official, reinstating Gonzales and designating Honeywell for assignment. They also reinstated closer David Bednar from the IL and optioned right-hander Ryder Ryan.
2:15pm: Left-hander Marco Gonzales is going to start today’s game for the Pirates, with Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette among those to relay the news on X. He’s currently on the 60-day injured list and will therefore need to be reinstated to the 40-man roster, but it was reported earlier that righty Brent Honeywell Jr. is to be designated for assignment. Unless there are other moves involved, it seems it will be a simple swap of Gonzales taking Honeywell’s spot.
Gonzales, 32, was acquired from Atlanta in the offseason and started the season in Pittsburgh’s rotation. He made three starts with a 2.65 earned run average before landing on the injured list in mid-April with a forearm strain. He now returns after missing roughly three months of the season.
The lefty has generally been a solid but not overwhelming starter over his career. In 910 career innings, he has a 4.10 ERA but with a subpar strikeout rate of 17.6%. At his best, he limits damage even if he doesn’t miss bats. In 2019, he logged over 200 innings with Seattle with a 3.99 ERA. He only punched out 17% of opponents but Statcast considered his barrel rate to be in the 87th percentile of qualified pitchers.
The Bucs could have some decisions to make about how they shape their rotation for the rest of the year. Gonzales and Martín Pérez were brought aboard in the winter to ideally serve as veteran anchors in a somewhat inexperienced group but neither has been able to achieve that so far. As mentioned, Gonzales took the ball just four times before a lengthy IL stint while Pérez also missed some time due to injury and has 14 starts with an ERA of 5.15.
In the long term, Pittsburgh seems to be well set up in the rotation with a core three of Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller. Skenes has debuted this year and dominated with a 1.90 ERA through 11 starts, getting named the National League starter for the All-Star game. Jones hasn’t been quite that dominant but a 3.56 ERA through 16 starts is still quite an achievement for a rookie. Keller is in his sixth season and has a 3.40 ERA and is signed through 2028.
Jones is currently on the injured list and won’t be available for a few weeks, but the Bucs have Gonzales, Pérez, Skenes and Keller, as well as Quinn Priester and Luis Ortiz. The 23-year-old Priester isn’t generating as much hype as Skenes or Jones but he has a 4.30 ERA for the Bucs this year. The 25-year-old Ortiz started the year in the bullpen has pitched so well that he’s carved out a starting gig for himself. He has a 2.95 ERA on the year with five of his last six outings being four innings or longer. Two of his last three appearances have been six-inning starts with only one earned run allowed total over those two starts.
That gives Pittsburgh six possible starters for now and seven when Jones comes back. Bailey Falter is also on the IL with left triceps tendinitis, though it’s unclear when he’ll be back. He was also having a good season before the IL stint, with a 4.08 ERA in 17 starts.
The Bucs are currently 45-48 on the year. Despite that fairly unimpressive record, they are only 2.5 games out of a playoff spot in a relatively weak National League Wild Card race and will have to figure out how to juggle these different rotation choices. Priester has options and may end up in the minors in spite of his decent results. Ortiz could end up back in the bullpen and Pérez also has some relief work on his résumé.
With all those starting options, it’s possible the Bucs look to make someone available even if they’re not truly selling at the deadline. For example, the Rays recently welcome Shane Baz back from his Tommy John layoff and were able to trade Aaron Civale to the Brewers without significantly downgrading their rotation, getting a prospect back in return. Many teams are looking for pitching but there are few clearcut sellers, so perhaps there would be interest in a veteran like Pérez or Gonzales, allowing the Bucs to use their pile of starters to add a position player or a reliever without truly harming their chances in 2024.
Whether a trade comes together or not, the Pittsburgh rotation seems to have a lot of long-term potential between Skenes, Jones, Keller, Priester, Falter and Ortiz, as well as prospects such as Braxton Ashcraft. There’s also Johan Oviedo, who will miss this season due to Tommy John surgery but should be back next year. Everyone in that group is controlled through 2027 or longer.
