Pirates GM Addresses Starting Pitcher's Return Timeline
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PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates right-handed starting pitcher Johan Oviedo made a brief return, but ended back in the minors shortly after, causing fans confusion on when he'd come back and serve as a permanent part of the rotation.
Oviedo made his 2025 debut with the Pirates in the series opener vs. the San Francisco Giants at PNC Park on Aug. 4. He only pitched one inning, throwing 43 pitches, allowing two earned runs, but posting three strikeouts in his return.
The Priates then sent Oviedo down the next day to Triple-A Indianapolis, bringing up right-handed relief pitcher Cam Sanders in his place.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington spoke about Oviedo on his radio shown on 93.7 The Fan on Aug. 10 with Greg Brown, the play-by-play commentator for the Pirates.
Cherington said that they didn't plan on optioning Oviedo, but that his outing, which saw his pitch count rise in the first ining, plus made a long night for the bullpen, necessitated a change.
“It was not our intention to option him, when he started that game on Monday," Cherington said. "Certainly our hope is that that would be a good outing and he’d get the ball again five days later, or six days later, whenever it was going to be.
“It just so happened that first inning, that pitch count built up and so it triggers two things. One, we’ve got to use a lot of pitching that night and we felt we needed to add a pitcher back and of course, if you’re going to do that, then you got to take somebody off and Oviedo wasn’t going to be available for a while, so he was the guy we took off.
"But the second thing, as you’re alluding to, once that happened in that outing, he ended with 40 pitches or something, well, we’re not going to bring him back to 80 [pitches] in one outing and so we felt like, ‘Well, let’s send him down, let him build his count back up, a little bit more incrementally than that. Let’s see where we are in 15 days."
Oviedo underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in December 2023 and missed the entirety of the 2024 season, with his last MLB start coming on Sept. 27, 2023.
He also aimed for an early return in 2025, but suffered a setback, with a right lat muscle in a live batting practice in early March, which put him back on the 60-day injured list.
Oviedo began his first rehab assignment with the FCL Pirates on June 30, then moved up each level, to Single-A Bradenton on July 5, Double-A Altoona on July 18 and then Triple-A Indianapolis on July 2
He made his first start back with Indianapolis on Aug. 9 vs. the Omaha Storm Chasers, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, on the road. He threw 63 pitches over 3.2 innings pitched, giving up two hits, a walk and an earned run, while posting eight strikeouts.
Cherington said that he liked what he saw from Oviedo in that latest outing at Triple-A and that he'll have at least one more start during his 15 days there, which is the least amount of time he has to spend there before moving back to the MLB.
He also said that they hope to get Oviedo pitch count up into the high 70s or low 80s in that next start, if possible.
“He’s handled it really well," Cherington said. 'Look, I’m impressed. Again, that wasn’t the intention going into that outing. We talked to him after the game, he was obviously frustrated. Not at the decision, he was just frustrated at the reality of what was happening. He understood it, to his credit, he got right back on the horse, and pitched really well last night for Indy and he’ll have at least one more outing with Indy and we’ll go from there.”
The Pirates currently have just four starting pitchers in their rotation, which features three right-handers in All-Star Paul Skenes, veteran Mitch Keller and rookie Mike Burrows, along with left-hander Andrew Heaney.
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Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.