Pirates Pull Off Buzzer Beater Trade for Marlins Reliever
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A busy day of deals from the Pittsburgh Pirates ended with a pair of buzzer-beaters.
Alongside acquiring Kirby Yates from the Los Angeles Angels right before the cut-off point, a source confirmed to Pittsburgh Pirates On SI that the team also brought in Lake Bachar from the Miami Marlins.
The Athletic's Will Sammon reported that the Pirates are sending prospects Brandan Bidois, Hyun Seung Lee and Brian Sanchez to Miami for Bachar.
Bachar is the sixth different reliever Pittsburgh has landed since the beginning of July, joining Brandon Eisert, Ron Marinaccio, Camilo Doval, Luke Weaver and Yates.
A 31-year-old who made his major league debut with the Marlins in 2024, Bachar posted a 3.84 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 58 2/3 innings for the team this season.
He still has two minor league options left and another year of pre-arbitration remaining, meaning he'll remain under club control for the foreseeable future.
Bachar doesn't throw particularly hard, as his average fastball velocity of 94.5 mph ranks in the middle of the pack, but his whiff rate of 30.6 percent falls into the 86th percentile, per Baseball Savant.
His deep arsenal includes a four-seam fastball, slider, sweeper, curveball, split finger and sinker.
Pittsburgh was aggressive in filling its bullpen needs at this year's deadline, putting the club in a strong spot while sitting 3 1/3 games out of the final Wild Card spot in the National League.
Is Pittsburgh's Bullpen Now a Strength?
With a collective ERA that falls into the bottom-10 in the league at 4.34, Pittsburgh's bullpen has been the club's most glaring weakness all season long.
For that reason, the expectation in the lead-up to the deadline was that the organization was going to take an active approach towards upgrading the unit.
The first move of substance came with the addition of Doval, who arrived in a trade from the New York Yankees, while the Pirates later landed Weaver, Yates and Bachar on deadline day.
As arguably the best reliever moved at the deadline with a 1.84 ERA over 44 innings for the New York Mets, Weaver will slot in as one of the club's options to close out games next to Gregory Soto and Mason Montgomery.
Doval struggled to the tune of a 4.65 ERA with the Yankees and gave up a run in his first outing as a Pirate, but the former All-Star has the upside to turn into a solid set-up man.
Yates and Bachar should settle in as quality middle relievers, helping to lengthen Pittsburgh's bullpen significantly.
With Weaver, Doval and Bachar all being under contract in 2027 as well, the Pirates have crafted a unit that has the capacity to help them make a playoff run both this season and next.
How all the pieces truly fit together remains to be seen, though the bullpen now has a shot to be a real strength for Pittsburgh.
Pittsburgh Pirates On SI's Dom Campbell helped with the reporting of this trade.
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Jack is a New Jersey native who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh as a Media & Professional Communications major in 2024 who is now covering the Pittsburgh Steelers and New York Yankees for On SI.