The Pirates have placed left-hander on the 15-day injured list due to a lat muscle strain in Mayzas throwing shoulder. Former closer has been called up to take Mayzas spot on the active roster. The biggest news here is the return of Bednar, who served as the Pirates closer for the majority of the 2022-24 seasons. An All-Star in both 2022 and 23, Bednar posted a 2.27 ERA and 2.49 FIP with a 30.6% strikeout rate in those two years. Things took a turn for the worse last year, though, as Bednar struggled to a 5.77 ERA with a 4.80 FIP in 57 2/3 innings. His strikeout rate dipped to just 22.1%, and his walk rate ballooned up to 10.7%. The Pirates stuck with their man for the majority of last year despite his struggles, but eventually pulled him from the closer role in late August of last year. That led to plenty of questions about if he would be a trade or even non-tender candidate this winter, but Bednar ended up not only remaining in the organization but also in the mix for saves entering 2025. Unfortunately for both the Pirates and the right-hander, he surrendered four runs (three earned) on four hits (including one homer) and two walks while striking out just one over his first three appearances, only one of which saw him record an out before being pulled. He was optioned to the minors on April 1 as a result of this poor performance after months of attempts to try to get the 30-year-old right. Theres no obvious injury or decline in velocity to point to as an explanation for his struggles, and perhaps thats why its not a surprise that he dominated Triple-A hitters with five scorele s frames and seven strikeouts against zero walks. Bednars return to the majors Chris Devenski Jersey was seemingly at least partially spurred on by how dominant he looked during his brief stay in the minors, but its unclear what role hell fill for the Pirates now that hes back in Pittsburgh. Manager Derek Shelton discu sed Bednars return with reporters (including those with the ) earlier this afternoon, but did not offer any concrete plans for the righty. Were kind of pitching to what we think the leverage is and what we feel the matchup is, but excited to have him back, Shelton said, as relayed by the AP. He went down, he pitched really well. He handled himself really well. I think weve said all along were a better bullpen with in it. Its nice to have him back. Shelton went on to suggest theres some fluidity to the Pirates plans regarding Bednar, which makes sense given their uncertain bullpen situation. Pittsburghs relief corps is a roughly average group by ERA and FIP when compared to the rest of the league, but more advanced metrics like SIERA and xFIP consider the Pirates to have a bottom-ten bullpen in the sport. The late innings are particularly uncertain for the club, with currently serving as the clubs closer despite a 14.7% strikeout rate after a knee i sue sent the scuffling to the injured list earlier this month. The uncertainty in the bullpen just got worse for Pittsburgh, as the lo s of Mayza is a fairly significant one. The 33-year-old signed an MLB deal with the organization back in February and has looked like one of the clubs best relievers in the early going with a 2.89 ERA and 3.35 FIP in seven appearances. A disastrous first half in Toronto tanked Mayzas 2024 numbers, but hes generally be a very reliable middle relief arm over the years with a 3.43 ERA and a 3.48 FIP since the start of the 2021 season. While losing the southpaw certainly hurts, and both remain available as left-handed relief options for the Pirates in addition to long relief arm . Colin Poche Jersey