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Aug 4, 2025; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Johan Oviedo (24) delivers a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

Pirates Manager Names Starting Pitcher vs. Blue Jays

Originally posted on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI
By Dominic Campbell | Last updated Aug 20, 2025 7:00 AM ET

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates complete their series with the Toronto Blue Jays at PNC Park by bringing back a familiar name at starting pitcher.

Pirates manager Don Kelly announced that right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo on Aug. 19 will start vs. the Blue Jays in the series finale on Aug. 20, with first pitch set for 12:35 p.m.

Oviedo has a locker in the Pirates club house, but they won't activate him until the day of the game. Kelly also announced that the Pirates will make a corresponding move on the 26-man MLB roster, making room for Oviedo.

The Pirates activated Oviedo off of the 60-day Injured list on Aug. 4 and he started that same day vs. the San Francisco Giants, making his season debut. He struggled in that outing, only pitching one inning, throwing 43 pitches, allowing two earned runs, but posting three strikeouts.

Pittsburgh then sent Oviedo down the next day to Triple-A Indianapolis, bringing up right-handed relief pitcher Cam Sanders in his place.

Oviedo underwent Tommy John surgery on his right elbow in December 2023 and missed the entirety of the 2024 season, with his last MLB start coming on Sept. 27, 2023.

He also aimed for an early return in 2025, but suffered a setback, with a right lat muscle in a live batting practice in early March, which put him back on the 60-day injured list.

Oviedo began his first rehab assignment with the FCL Pirates on June 30, then moved up each level, to Single-A Bradenton on July 5, Double-A Altoona on July 18 and then Indianapolis on July 2.

He made two recent starts with Indianapolis after going back down, allowing an earned run over 3.2 innings pitched, while posting eight strikeouts against the Omaha Storm Chases, the Triple-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals on Aug. 9 in his first start.

Oviedo then threw 75 pitches over five innings, giving up four hits, two walks and two solo home runs, but also striking out seven batters vs. the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, the Triple-A affiliate of the New York Yankees, on the road on Aug. 15.

Kelly praised Oviedo for the work he put down in Indianapolis and that he understands how hard it was for him to have to go back down to the minor leagues so soon after coming back up.

"It was shaky," Kelly said. "I think going through what he went through with the Tommy John, the lat, the fight that it takes, the journey to get back. He was so amped up and honestly, what happened was not planned, from him, first of all, then us, we were in a spot that had to make a move and get a fresh pitcher up and Ovi' was the guy that went down."

"Really proud of him, went down, handled what he needed to do with the competitiveness that he consistently shows and just really proud of the way he handled that because it's not easy to do. Going through that whole journey to get back here and then you pitch one inning, doesn't go the way that you planned and you find yourself back in Triple-A, but he was a pro about it, went down and did what he needed to do and looking forward to him starting tomorrow."

The Pirates currently only have three main starting pitchers in their rotation, featuring right-handers in Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller and rookie Mike Burrows.

Kelly didn't officially announce Oviedo as a part of the starting rotation the rest of the season, as they're still looking at dealing with who's available and who is on pitch/innings counts the remainder of the campaign.

"Yeah I don't want to get too far ahead," Kelly said. "I think that look into tomorrow and continuing to map out exactly what that is going to look like and it's probably going to be hard to plan from now until the end of September, how we adjust and adapt. We've talked about some guys that may be on some innings limits and how we continue to adjust that will be fluid as we go."

This article first appeared on Pittsburgh Pirates on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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