Who fills openings in Pirates' rotation?

This story was excerpted from Justice delos Santos’ Pirates Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

Coming into Spring Training, the Pirates appeared to have an abundance of starting pitching depth. Over the last several months, that depth has disappeared.

JT Brubaker, Mike Burrows and Vince Velasquez suffered season-ending injuries. Roansy Contreras struggled to such a degree that he was optioned to the Rookie-level Florida Complex League Pirates. Luis L. Ortiz struggled and was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. Then, at the Trade Deadline, Rich Hill was sent to the Padres.

The Pirates have 56 games remaining and they’ll have to figure out the most effective way to cover roughly 500 innings.

“I don’t think we’ve fully decided that yet,” manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s obviously something we would have to figure out, but we haven’t made any firm decision on that yet.”

As things stand, the rotation features Mitch Keller, Johan Oviedo, Quinn Priester and Osvaldo Bido. Keller (133 2/3) and Oviedo (124 1/3) have thrown the most and second-most innings for the Pirates and should be dependable options to provide length in August and September. Priester is navigating growing pains, but has pitched at least five innings in each of his first three starts. Bido, however, hasn’t pitched more than four innings since June 24, his third career start. So, who else will get starts?

Left-hander Bailey Falter, acquired from the Phillies at the Trade Deadline in exchange for infielder Rodolfo Castro, stands to be a prominent member of the rotation going forward.

Falter, 26, has spent parts of the last three seasons in Philadelphia, and has a career 4.56 ERA and 4.49 FIP, with a 7.7 K/9 and 1.8 BB/9 in 158 innings. The southpaw earned a spot on Philadelphia’s Opening Day roster, but after posting a 5.13 ERA in 40 1/3 innings, he was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley in mid-May. In 11 starts with the IronPigs, Falter had a 4.21 ERA and 5.51 FIP in 47 innings.

“Falter really is a guy we’ve had our eyes on for a while,” general manager Ben Cherington said. “Left-handed pitcher, strike-thrower, deceptive, pitched on a big stage, pitched with a good team, pitched in a tough pitcher’s park in Philly. PNC is a nice park for a lefty with his style. We’ve always kind of felt like he was going to be a good fit for our team and our ballpark and have asked the Phillies about him a number of times over the last couple years.”

Ortiz is another candidate to start down the stretch, but the right-hander will likely need to spend more time with Indianapolis before returning to Pittsburgh.

The 24-year-old joined the rotation in early May and had the opportunity to start just about every five days. Similar to last season, Ortiz teased his talents. Against the Rangers, he allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings. Against the Marlins, he threw eight innings of one-run ball. Those flashes, however, were just that -- flashes.

In 11 games (10 starts), Ortiz had a 4.86 ERA across 53 2/3 innings before being optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis in mid-July. Compared to last year, his strikeouts were down (9.56 in ‘22, 5.70 in ‘23) and his home runs were up (0.56 HR/9 in ‘22, 1.84 HR/9 in ‘23). Since returning to Indianapolis, he’s allowed 15 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings (9.20 ERA) with 16 strikeouts and 13 walks. A return to Pittsburgh isn’t out of the question for Ortiz, but it likely isn’t imminent, either.

“We’re putting it really in front of him,” Cherington said. “The best outcome for all of us, including Luis, is for him to make Major League starts this year, but he’s got to earn it. He’s going to work and earn it, and we believe he will do that. But there’s stuff that he’s working on to accomplish first in Triple-A, and we’ll see where that goes.”

Jackson Wolf, acquired in the trade that sent Hill and Ji-Man Choi to the Padres, has a single Major League start under his belt, allowing three runs in five innings in his Major League debut on July 22. That said, his start with San Diego was more of a spot start due to circumstance, and Cherington said Wolf, who has never pitched in Triple-A, will likely report to Double-A Altoona. In 18 starts with Double-A San Antonio this season, Wolf posted a 4.08 ERA and 3.87 FIP across 88 1/3 innings.