Pirates Urged to Trade David Bednar

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have gotten some of the best performances from right-handed relief pitcher David Bednar as of late, but one MLB writer thinks that it's time to move on.

Bednar earned National League Reliever of the Month honors for June after a number of strong performances.

He made 10 appearances out of the bullpen, with a 2-1 record, five saves in five opportunities, no earned runs allowed over 10.0 innings pitched, allowing four hits, three walks, one intentional walk and a run, but no earned runs and posting 16 strikeouts over 36 batters faced in June.

This recent string of performances comes after a bad start to the 2025 campaign, especially in the opening series vs. the Miami Marlins, as he suffered two losses and had a 27.00 ERA.

Bednar also struggled in 2024, posting a 3-8 record, a 5.77 ERA in 57.2 innings pitched in 62 games, 23 saves and seven blown saves in 30 opportunities, while also losing his starting job as closer in the final month of the season.

The Pirates sent Bednar down to Triple-A Indianapolis on April 1, where he allowed just one hit and no runs with seven strikeouts over five outings.

Bednar came back up on April 19 and has spent the remainder of this season with the Pirates, finding his best form once again.

He has made 31 appearances since coming back up to the MLB and has starred, with a 1.86 ERA over 29.0 innings pitched, allowing 21 hits, seven walks, seven runs, six earned runs and a home run, while posting 41 strikeouts and going 12-for-12 in save opportunities.

David Schoenfeld of ESPN wrote about one player that every MLB Team should trade for or trade away before the deadline on July 31.

He picked Bednar as the one player that the Pirates should trade away, due to their poor record (38-54 overall), and that right-handed relief pitcher Dennis Santana can take Bednar's role.

"Bednar is a two-time All-Star closer who struggled in 2024 (5.77 ERA) and then lost two games and blew a save in his first three outings of 2025, but he has been rolling since then with a 1.95 ERA and -- most impressively -- a 37.4% strikeout rate as his curveball/splitter combo are once again wipeout pitches," Bednar wrote. "He's making $5.9 million this year and is under team control for another season, but the Pirates aren't going anywhere in the standings anytime soon and have a closer-in-waiting in Dennis Santana."