Mason Montgomery Excited to Join Pirates Pitching Staff
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates made a big-time trade with the Tampa Bay Rays that bolstered their lineup, but also addressed a need in the bullpen.
The Pirates added home-run hitting second baseman Brandon Lowe and outfielder Jake Mangum who can play all three spots, but they also added left-handed relief pitcher Mason Montgomery too.
Montgomery had his first full season in the major leagues in 2025 and made 57 appearances, gaining great experience as a rookie.
He'll now join a Pirates team that's aiming for postseason contention and will need what he brings to the roster for 2026.
Montgomery Joins Excellent Pirates Pitching Staff
The Pirates boast one of the best pitching staffs in baseball and had a great showing throughout 2025.
Pittsburgh allowed the third least home runs (153), posted the fourth lowest WHIP (1.22), the seventh lowest team ERA (3.76), the seventh least walks (473) and the eighth lowest opposing batting average (.236) in baseball.
The Pirates also led baseball in shutouts with 19, two more than both the two second place teams in the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies, who had 17.
Leading the way for the Pirates is none other than Paul Skenes, who won the National League Cy Young Award.
Skenes dominated opposing hitters, posting the lowest ERA (1.97), ranking tied for the fourth most strikeouts (216), the fourth lowest WHIP (0.95), the sixth lowest batting average (.199) and the 10th most innings pitched (187.2), plus the fifth best K/BB (5.14), seventh best K/9 (10.36) and ninth best BB/9 (2.01) in 2025.
The Pirates also have veteran starting pitcher in Mitch Keller, a 2023 All-Star, Jared Jones returning from internal brace surgery and rookies in Braxton Ashcraft, Hunter Barco and Bubba Chandler in the rotation.
Montgomery will join a solid bullpen as well, which contains the likes of right-handers in Justin Lawrence, Carmen Mlodzinski, Isaac Mattson and Dennis Santana.
He also isn't the only left-handed relief pitcher on the Pirates, as they signed Gregory Soto to a one-year, $7.75 million deal.
What Montgomery Thinks of Pirates Pitching Staff
Montgomery spoke to the media for the first time since joining the Pirates on Dec. 19 and talked about the pitching staff.
He said he's excited for the opportunity to join a top staff and that he's hoping to learn more and improve throughout 2026.
"It’s cool," Montgomery said. "There are a lot of people I can learn from. I’m excited for that. I was talking to Brandon and Jake. They were like, ‘You should be excited. This is one of the better pitching staffs in the league.’ I’m excited. It’ll be fun. There are going to be some learning opportunities. Who knows? Go from there."
Montgomery will also have a new manager in Don Kelly and join new Pirates pitching coach Bill Murphy as he makes his imprint on the staff himself.
He said that he hasn't met with the pair yet, but that they've had some good phone conversations so far.
"I had a couple brief phone calls with the both of them," Montgomery said. "Just good guys. The intent with their phone calls was just to welcome me and say, ‘Hey, excited to have you.’ I definitely got that from their words. I’m excited to meet ‘em in person. They seem like great guys."
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.