Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar must bounce back for the 2025 season.
Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar had his fair share of struggles last season.
The Pirates looked like a decent team through the first four months of the season, but began to decline midway through the year when Bednar’s struggles were exacerbated.
That’s why Bleacher Report writer Zachary D. Rymer named Bednar the team’s X-Factor going into the 2025 campaign.
If the Pirates are going to contend this season, it will be on the strength of their pitching staff. Yet even if Paul Skenes and friends do their job in the rotation, the Bucs simply can’t suffer a repeat of the 29 blown saves they had last year.
This will come down to Bednar, who blew as many saves in 2024 as he did in 2022 and 2023 combined. It’s certainly a positive that he has looked primed for a rebound this spring, but it’ll take more than that to erase last year’s 5.77 ERA.
If Bednar can return to where he was in 2023 when he posted a 2.00 ERA and recorded 39 saves while making the All-Star team, the Pirates bullpen will be seen as one of the team’s strengths rather than one of its weaknesses.
BD community, what do you expect to see from Bednar in 2025? Will we get his return to All-Star form or will he revert back to how he played last season? Chime off in the comments section below.