Pirates Manager Praises Pitching vs. Marlins
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates had a tough start to their 2025 season, but their pitching had some of the best moments in the series.
The Pirates had great starting pitching from Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Bailey Falter and Andrew Heaney, who combined for 22.1 innings of work, 17 strikeouts and allowing just six earned runs for a 2.44 ERA.
Pittsburgh won just one of those three games against the Miami Marlins on the road, as they had their struggles defensively and also from the bullpen, as they lost all three game on a walk-off.
The bullpen allowed seven runs over 14 innings, a 4.50 ERA. Both right-handed pitchers in Colin Holderman and David Bednar, who struggled towards the end of last season both had their issues in the series.
Holderman allowed two runs in the eighth inning after the Pirates led 4-2 on Opening Day on March 27 and a solo home run, tying things up at 2-2 on March 30, both games the Pirates lost.
Bednar allowed a leadoff triple in the series opener with the game tied at 4-4, eventually resulting in a walk-off triple.
He also allowed a two-run home run in the second game on March 28, which he eventually got the save for a 4-3 win, and then threw a wild pitch, as the Marlins walked it off again for a 5-4 win in the series finale.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton stood up for his bullpen following their Opening Day loss and did so again at the end of the series. He praised his starting pitching and was pleased with his staff throughout the series.
"Yeah I thought our starting pitching throughout the series was really good," Shelton said. "I mean we got what, five and two-thirds out of Paul [Skenes] and six out of Mitch [Keller] and six out of Bailey [Falter] and [Andrew Heaney] was good through for five."
"We got a really good stretch out of [Justin] Lawrence with right-handed hitters. He came in and did what he does. He got a ground ball that [Adam Frazier] made a nice play on. [Caleb Ferguson] was good. I mean, Bednar got weak contact, a stolen base and then a wild pitch. I mean, there was no hard contact there, but I thought our pitching was really good throughout the whole series."
"Just gotta keep going. It's four games and we've been in every game."
— SportsNet Pittsburgh (@SNPittsburgh) March 30, 2025
Derek Shelton stays optimistic despite the series loss pic.twitter.com/baRZZMGBWR
The Pirates stay in Florida for their next series, as they face the Tampa Bay Rays for three games, starting March 31.
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.