The Pirates’ bullpen has gone from liability to asset in a hurry, and Mason Montgomery is the main reason why.
Since the trade deadline, Pittsburgh relievers have posted a 3.19 ERA, which ranks sixth in the majors. That’s a sharp turn from the 4.31 mark they carried from Opening Day through August 3, when the group ranked 20th. The outside additions helped, but Montgomery’s rise has been the real engine behind the turnaround.
At the end of July, there was already a case for giving him the ninth inning more consistently. Pittsburgh finally made that move, and Montgomery has responded with 18 straight scoreless appearances. He looks locked into the role now, and maybe beyond this season too.
Montgomery picked up his 10th save of the year on September 6, and he’s now converted 10 of 12 save chances overall. By fWAR, he ranks as the 15th-most valuable reliever in the majors at 1.6, and he has done it in only 54 2/3 innings, the third-fewest among those 15 pitchers.
The results are backed up by the numbers under the hood as well. Montgomery’s ERA has dropped to 2.87, with even better marks in xERA (2.59), FIP (2.31) and xFIP (2.20). That kind of profile is what separates a good late-inning arm from a truly elite one.
He’s also become one of baseball’s best bat-missers. His 37.8% strikeout rate ranks third among relievers, trailing only Mason Miller and Andres Muñoz, and he leads all left-handers in that category. The breakout was already taking shape in spring training for anyone watching closely.
There’s another layer to all of this for Pittsburgh: Montgomery is under control through 2030. That matters a lot for a closer, especially one performing at this level, because elite late-inning arms usually cost a fortune on the open market.
The broader bullpen picture looks encouraging too. With the exception of the injured Kirby Yates, every reliever the Pirates added is under team control for at least next season. That gives the group a chance to remain a strength in 2027 and leaves the club with one fewer offseason problem to solve.
The one thing Pittsburgh can probably regret is not making Montgomery the closer sooner. If they had, they might have avoided some of the blown saves that hurt them for much of the season and put themselves in a better playoff spot right now.
In Other News...
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The timing is especially rough for a Pirates staff already bracing for a bullpen game in the next turn through the rotation. Pittsburgh moved quickly to bring up a right-hander from Triple-A Indianapolis to fill Ashcrafts roster spot, but the larger concern is the loss of a young arm the club would have rather protected as it finished the year. A season that had already tested the Pirates pitching depth just got a little thinner. [Read more 🡒]
Pirates Rotation Pressure Just Got Worse With Braxton Ashcraft Concern
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For Pittsburgh, the timing adds another layer of strain to a rotation that already has Mitch Keller on the injured list. Ashcrafts workload had jumped significantly from the previous season, and the Pirates were trying to see how much he could handle as the year wore on. Instead, they are now juggling another pitching question at a point in the schedule where every healthy starter matters. [Read more 🡒]