Pirates May Have Ripped Off Red Sox in Subtle Trade
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During the offseason, the Pittsburgh Pirates swung an under-the-radar trade with the Boston Red Sox, acquiring relief pitcher Chase Shugart in exchange for fellow reliever Matt McShane.
At the time, no one really thought too much of the deal. After all, Shugart had only thrown a grand total of 8.2 innings on the major-league level at the time.
However, just over a month into the 2025 MLB campaign, it's looking like the Pirates may have robbed the Red Sox in the swap.
Through 12 relief appearances heading into Monday night's matchup against the St. Louis Cardinals, Shugart had logged a 1.23 ERA, allowing just 7 hits while registering 11 strikeouts over 14.2 innings of work. Additionally, he boasted a sparkling 0.682 WHIP.
Baron Dionis of Rum Bunter has also revealed that Shugart lays claim to some spectacular peripheral numbers which indicate that his strong start is no fluke.
"If those numbers were not impressive enough, he also has limited opponents to an 83.9 mph average exit velocity, which ranks in the 97th percentile," wrote Dionis. "Shugart also prevents hard contact, limiting batters to a 32.5% hard hit rate and a 5% barrel rate. Even though his strikeout rate is low at 20.4%, his whiff rate is still strong at 30.4%."
Obviously, it's still very early in the season, but Shugart has provided Pittsburgh's bullpen with a massive lift, something the Pirates desperately needed considering how much of an issue their pen was last year.
The Bridge City, Tx. native is already 28 years old, so he had been floating around Boston's system for quite some time. He struggled in the minors, posting a 4.66 ERA and a meager 2.83 K/BB ratio, but perhaps the change of scenery has allowed Shugart to find his groove.
Now if only the rest of Pittsburgh's squad would follow suit.
Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.