Having earned the trust of Derek Shelton, Pirates’ Ryan Borucki ready to take on larger bullpen role
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Ryan Borucki’s career with the Pittsburgh Pirates began inauspiciously.
The left-handed reliever signed a minor-league contract in early May and made his debut with the club June 19. That first outing did not go particularly well, as Borucki was charged with a pair of runs against the Cubs.
Several of his initial games in a Pirates uniform were cut from that cloth.
Perhaps most brutal was Borucki’s July 2 relief outing against Milwaukee. He committed a costly throwing error to first base in the top eighth inning, allowing a pair of Brewers to score and putting the game out of reach.
After that game, Borucki’s ERA through his first five outings was an unappetizing 9.82.
However, after a tough first few weeks, Borucki found a groove and had a solid campaign the rest of the way.
Over 38 appearances and 40 1/3 innings, Borucki posted a 2.45 ERA and team-best 0.74 WHIP, striking out 33 with just four walks.
In November, the Pirates rewarded him with a one-year, $1.6-million deal, avoiding arbitration with the 29-year-old, who turns 30 at the end of March.
“Just being able to sign here early and not have to worry about it — I did that whole minor-league free agent thing last year, which was really stressful — just being able to take a breath of fresh air early into the offseason, (now I can) just worry about getting ready for spring training and Opening Day,” Borucki said.
Borucki, a 15th-round draft pick by Toronto in 2012, made his MLB debut with the club in 2018, playing with the Blue Jays until 2022.
Through parts of five seasons, his role shifted from starter to the bullpen.
Plagued by injuries and issues with consistency, Borucki was dealt to the Seattle Mariners midseason in 2022 before eventually signing a minor league deal with the Cubs, who designated him for assignment at the end of last April.
A little more than a week passed before the Pirates brought him aboard, and after spending roughly a month at Triple-A Indianapolis, he got the major-league call.
“A lot of things that I’ve been through the last couple years haven’t been the best, and then (2023) was finally a showing of what I can do,” he said. “I feel like the Pirates got me back on track to what I always believed I was. I kind of lost my way for a couple seasons and was trying to figure it out on my own.”
Borucki leaned heavily on his slider last season, with good effect. Per Statcast, he threw it about 55% of the time and held opposing batters to a .194 average.
Ryan Borucki with another 1-2-3 inning in the 2nd, including this filthy slider for the strikeout
87.9 MPH, 2423 RPM, 29 IVB, 5 IHB pic.twitter.com/WICwfvBje6
— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) August 20, 2023
Borucki’s sweeper proved even more difficult for hitters, as evidenced by their collective .088 batting average against it.
Complementing his off-speed pitches are a sinker and changeup.
With an effective repertoire and minuscule walk rate (0.9 per nine innings), Borucki emerged as one of the Pirates’ best relievers.
“Last year, I felt like once I earned (manager Derek Shelton’s) trust, that he really got me out there a lot, and it made it really easy for me to get in a groove and stay sharp,” Borucki said. “That was the biggest thing. It was awesome to be able to be out there all the time competing.”
Flexing his versatility, Borucki even made a pair of spot starts for the Pirates on July 22 and Aug. 20.
Entering the 2024 campaign with the trust of his manager, Borucki rejoins a Pirates bullpen that is set to feature the steady presence of All-Star closer David Bednar, promising youngster Carmen Mlodzinski as well as Colin Holderman.
As the Pirates try to build upon their 14-game improvement in the win column from 2022 to ‘23, when the club went from 62 to 76 victories, Borucki is confident the bullpen can play a starring role.
“The teams that I’ve been on — I’ve been to the playoffs twice — and the backbone of both those teams was the bullpen,” Borucki said. “… I think it’s really gonna be a really big strength for this team, that bullpen.”