Pirates Remaining Cautious With Johan Oviedo
In this story:
Few teams boast more depth in their starting rotation than the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Pittsburgh added to its surplus of pitching when it signed left-handed starting pitcher Andrew Heaney to a one-year, $5.25 million deal on Thursday. While no team can have too much pitching, the added depth eventually leads to some pitchers being on the outside looking in.
One pitcher who is looking to work his way back into the picture is right-handed starting pitcher Johan Oviedo. He is working his way back after missing all of the 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery, and while the signing of Heaney could potentially delay things for him, Pirates manager Derek Shelton remains high on Oviedo.
"This has not changed how we feel about Oviedo," Shelton said. "We like Oviedo a lot, and I think he's proven with what he did in 2023. He's also coming off Tommy John [surgery,] and we realize that there's going to be limitations with him during the year and we are not going to push that."
"You know that you love this game, but when you spend time away and you get back... there's nothing like it."
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) February 15, 2025
Johan Oviedo was mic'd up at Spring Training. pic.twitter.com/Ad1p6hKqdb
Shelton also noted the cautious approach the Pirates are going to have with Oviedo and the team won't skip any steps as he makes his recovery.
"We are going to be intentional with making sure that we put guys in the best position possible," Shelton said. "But in Oviedo's case, we really like him as a starting pitcher. We think he's going to be a good major league starting pitcher, and we will be thoughtful in terms of how we fulfill those innings this year."
Oviedo, 26, was solid in his first full season as a starting pitcher for Pittsburgh in 2023. He posted a 2.1 bWAR and went 9-14 with a 4.31 ERA over 177 2/3 innings in 32 starts. A lack of command was the one knock on his game, as he averaged eight strikeouts per nine innings compared to 4.2 walks.
Oviedo turned a corner in the second half of the 2023 season, going 6-4 with a 3.72 ERA over 14 starts and 77 1/3 innings, including one complete game shutout. The Pirates right-hander also held opponents to a .210 batting average after the All-Star break compared to a .257 batting average in the first half.
Of his 14 starts in the second half of the 2023 season. Oviedo had eight starts in which he pitched at least five innings and allowed one or no runs.
