Pirates right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski is getting stretched out as a starter this spring, he tells Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. That seems to be a consistent position for him, as general manager Ben Cherington tells Hiles that the righty has broached the subject before.
“I think from the time he first pitched out of the bullpen for us, literally from that day, he’s been pretty consistent in his communication with us that, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to help the team, and I don’t want to give up on starting,’” Cherington said. “We encourage that. Open communication. He’s taken advantage of the forums he’s had to continue to express interest in that in a really professional, thoughtful way. We agreed at the beginning of last season that we heard him, and we felt like we were going to ask him to pitch in the ’pen for now.
“We see examples all over the game of guys doing that and going back to the rotation at some point in the future. So at the end of the season, we had a chance to sit down again and agreed that it made sense for him to put himself in a position this offseason, give himself a chance to be a starter. We agreed that we’d get his volume built in spring training to some point, probably at least three innings, and then we’ll assess and see where we are. Just continue that communication with him.”
Mlodzinki, now 26, was drafted in 2020. He spent 2021 and 2022 working primarily as a starter in the minors. In the second of those two seasons, he logged a 4.78 earned run average in 105 1/3 innings at the Double-A level.
Since then, he’s mostly been in a relief role, which has includes some big league success. He has 86 2/3 innings under his belt at this point with a 2.91 ERA. That includes five “starts”, though those were opener outings, none longer than two innings. His 22.2% strikeout rate and 10.2% walk rate are each a bit shy of average for a reliever, though his 46.7% ground ball rate is strong. He has one save and 16 holds.
Despite the decent bullpen results, Mlodzinski hasn’t given up on the dream of being a starter. It’s not uncommon these days for a guy with some relief success to try stretching out. It doesn’t always work but some success stories includes Garrett Crochet, Seth Lugo and Reynaldo López.
Mlodzinski has thrown six pitches in his major league career, according to Statcast: a four-seamer, slider, cutter, sweeper, changeup and sinker. He also has fairly neutral splits. Righties have hit .222/.312/.324 against him with lefties actually posting a worse line of .216/.289/.302.
His diverse arsenal and platoon-neutral results could perhaps allow him to turn a lineup over a few times, but he will have a hard time cracking a crowded Pittsburgh rotation. The Bucs have a controllable core three of Paul Skenes, Jared Jones and Mitch Keller. They signed Andrew Heaney to add a veteran back-end guy. Bailey Falter and Johan Oviedo are options for a spot, as are younger guys like Braxton Ashcraft, Mike Burrows, Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington. Like Mlodzinski, Caleb Ferguson is going to get stretched out in camp to see how it goes.
With all of those options, it’s likely Mlodzinski ends up in the bullpen, but it’s still notable that it’s on the table. In such situations, a pitcher sometimes needs the stars to align in order to find the right opportunity. As an example, Michael King worked mostly as a reliever for the Yankees for a while. In 2023, they fell out of contention and gave him a rotation job down the stretch. He pitched well enough that the Padres acquired him in the Juan Soto deal and gave him a starting role in San Diego, which he flourished in.
Now is the best time of year for a club to experiment with roles like this. After being stretched out, it’s fairly easy for a guy to then pivot to a relief role for the season, whereas doing the opposite in the middle of the summer is difficult. Mlodzinski and the Bucs can try it out and see what happens, even if it doesn’t immediately get him a rotation job. He also still has options, so staying stretched out in the minors is another possibility. It’s always possible that injuries or midseason trades open up some doors over a long season.
With what the Pirates have already up here in the rotation (and with what is on the way in the minors), the Pirates are looking like they have a top tier staff on the horizion if they stay healthy. I only wished they would get some bats for their SP;s. Mlodzinski could act as a pretty sharp 4-5 or long guy for them this year.
They did make the Ortiz for Horowitz move but it probably wouldn’t hurt to do another one depending on how it plays out. Trying to think of teams they could match with?
Maybe the Mets with Ronny Mauricio? They seem to not really have him in their plans long terms and Pirates could use a shortstop long term, even if he’s not a guarantee. Mets back end of the rotation is pretty ugly.
Good idea Pittsburgh. Get a couple (3 or 4) Hitters and go for Division.
I do not believe they need to be this cheap and lousy.
alot of RPs in recent memory have expressed the desire to start. Crochet and Lugo, but also jordan hicks, clay holmes, and now Mlodzinski. I dont remember many relievers who converted to SPs in the 80s/90s/00s. feels like back then it was the other way around, SPs who turned into RPs like eckersly and smoltz
chandlerbing: And Ryan.
Carmen Mlodzinski my OOTP GOAT. I hope he gets some run – might have to use his changeup some more though.
Another player’s name we will sadly never hear spoken by Vin Scully.
Alas… but I think we can all hear him say it in our own head!
Cue Robert Hegyes!!
All signs point to the making a trade pitching for hitting. Guessing Keller or Jones will be shopped for a bat.
Whatcha want for Mitch?
I really don’t think so. They seem pretty set on Skenes/Jones/Keller/Heaney being the 1-4. I think this more likely means that Chandler isn’t going to open the year in the Major Leagues, and they’re not 100% confident in Falter taking the fifth-starter role.
The Mlod Squad…
The Pirates have the most pitching depth I’ve seen as my whole time as a fan. I was very high on the pen last year though and was let down so should temper my expectations.
He was ok as a multi inning guy last year but seemed at his best in the late innings. Then again I guess you can never have enough starting pitching either and it’s not like he can’t just go back to the pen.
It’s crazy, they still have Hunter Stratton and Moreta in reserve. Both of whom were very nasty late inning guys, along with Nichols and maybe one of Burrows or Ashcraft as a long man/multi inning guy. Honesly would like to see one of them close when they move on from Bednar. So many 98mph strikeout arms.
Mlod will be a 4-inning starter if he gets a chance. He’s better suited as a 2-inning reliever.
Johan Oviedo likely wasn’t going to open the year in the rotation coming off TJ surgery, Falter’s underlying numbers were pretty bad, he had a near-5.00 SIERA and gave up a lot of contact. I wish they would open the year with Chandler in the fifth rotation spot, but I wouldn’t bet on that. I think this points to them piggybacking outings early in the year until Chandler reaches the service time requirements, with some mix of Mlodzinski, Oviedo, or Caleb Ferguson going 2-4 innings each at a time.
Falter got tired the last month and a half.He pitched well before that.
This shows though that they need to sign a good right handed reliever,preferably one who can close if Bednar is no good again.
I still wouldn’t put my full confidence in Falter. Feels like Jeff Locke 2.0, maybe slightly better, but still., even when he was pitching well in 2024, it always felt like he was playing with fire.
That’s a good comparison. I remember watching some of his starts, and he was good with his pitch counts and I just wondered how he was doing it?? Not great stuff, got a lot of popouts and seemed like he was skating by, but results are results and can do worse as a 4-5. Still wouldn’t be opposed to a higher upside guy.
With that pitch mix, surprised just now they are stretching him out as a starter and haven’t before.
Everyone is going to need a couple spot starter/long relief guys going forward with all the 4-5 inning pitchers. Falter comes to mind on Pittsburgh’s staff, unless he overcomes all the pitches he has thrown in the past.