Multiple starters in the rotation showing signs of growth
Despite the loss of Johan Oviedo for an extended period, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 5-man starting rotation is looking strong heading into the 2025 regular season. The young studs at the top of the rotation, Paul Skenes and Jared Jones, are adding to their pitch arsenal, while Bailey Falter is refining his offspeed pitches to set up his two-seamer and four-seamer better. Let’s take a closer look at these adjustments made in the offseason that are being put to the test in Spring Training.
Bailey Falter
When Bailey Falter joined the rotation last year, not much was expected from him. Yet, he surprised many with a 2.23 ERA for the first two months of the season, and although he wasn’t as great down the stretch, he finished the season with a 4.43 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP, indeed a stat line that fans and the organization would be pleased with from a backend starter.
Although Falter seems to have a backend starter ceiling, he’s looking to be more of a force behind Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, and Mitch Keller. His 90-93 mph 4-seamer and sinker had a lot more success than anticipated, as his long stride to the plate and movement on his pitches sneaks up on hitters much more than the speed of these pitches shows on the radar gun. However, his overuse of these two pitches (62%) made them much more predictable and less effective as the season went on.
Falter has spent the offseason improving his off-speed pitches to be used more to set up his fastballs. He’s worked on creating more depth in his curveball and turning his cutter (which typically plays like a fastball) into a slider with more downward movement away from a left-handed batter and into righties. If he can execute these pitches and throw them closer to 50% of the time, Falter could be in for a more consistent season.
Jared Jones
Although Jones’ stuff is much more elite than Falter’s, he similarly became predictable last season. Jones had four pitches in his arsenal but was a two-pitch pitcher, using his four-seam fastball and nasty slider a vast majority of the time. He proved to be pretty good with that mix, but to be a complete top-end starter in the big leagues for many years, you want to have 3 to 4 go-to pitches.
With his elevating four-seamer, Jones showcased a sinker moving inward to right-handed hitters in his first outing of Spring Training. He expressed frustration with developing the new pitch before his first outing but was pretty pleased with how it played in a live game. With Jones’s high velocity, adding that additional fastball will make him more of a nightmare; this will be an adjustment to the adjustment per se, as the few hitters who may think they have him figured out will have something new to worry about.
Paul Skenes
Paul Skenes may have had one of the most well-developed arsenals for a rookie pitcher. He already had a six-pitch mix that included his four-seamer, which consistently touched 100 mph, and his “splinker,” one of the most devastating pitches in the game in 2024. It combines the movement of a sinker and a splitter.
Skenes is scary because he is only 22 years old and can get better—even though he is already one of the game’s best. He has added two more pitches this offseason, which he has already displayed in Spring Training. Although not fully developed, they are already wowing the baseball world.
His new two-seamer, running away from a swing and a miss by Adam Frazier, was recently shown in a live batting practice. His new cutter has a similar movement but moves inward to left-handed batters. These pitches are variations of his already deadly four-seamer, making it even harder for hitters to track the movement of his top velocity.