The Pirates have an offseason problem in plain sight: they need another reliable left-handed starter. That has to be near the top of Ben Cherington’s shopping list. But before Pittsburgh starts looking outside the organization, Connor Wietgrefe has earned a much closer look.
He’s not a name that jumps off the page, even in a system built around pitching. But the 24-year-old lefty has worked his way into the conversation anyway, and that matters because it could affect how aggressively the Pirates go after rotation help for 2027.
Wietgrefe was a seventh-round pick from Minnesota in the 2024 MLB Draft, and he followed that up with a strong 2026 season across Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis. He put up a 3.27 ERA with 134 strikeouts in 151 1/3 innings, and his performance got even better after his June promotion to Indianapolis, where he posted a 3.08 ERA in 15 starts.
That wasn’t a one-year fluke, either. Across 277 1/3 professional innings, Wietgrefe owns a 3.12 ERA. Still, MLB Pipeline has him only No. 29 among Pittsburgh’s top 30 prospects, a reminder that he’s flying well below the radar.
The reason is obvious enough: he doesn’t light up radar guns. His fastball usually sits around 91 mph, a far cry from the triple-digit stuff Pirates fans have gotten used to seeing from Paul Skenes and Jared Jones. But the numbers say he knows how to pitch, and that’s not something to brush aside.
That’s especially true because Pittsburgh’s projected 2027 rotation is already lined up with Skenes, Jones, Braxton Ashcraft, Bubba Chandler and Mitch Keller. Every one of them throws right-handed, which gives the Pirates a clean opening to add a lefty who changes the look of the staff.
There’s another layer here, too: depth. The Pirates went into 2026 thinking their pitching could be a major strength.
Instead, their starters finished with a 4.23 ERA, right in the middle of the league, and injuries to Keller and Ashcraft exposed how thin the group could get when things went sideways. Even if the next addition isn’t a left-hander, the rotation needs another dependable arm.
That’s what makes Wietgrefe so interesting. Pittsburgh has to ask how much money it really wants to spend outside the organization if an internal option is already getting close.
He doesn’t need to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft until 2027, so there’s no immediate roster crunch forcing the issue. Even so, his Triple-A results have pushed him into legitimate major-league consideration sooner than expected.
Of course, there’s a wide gap between carving up minor-league lineups and handling big-league bats, especially for a pitcher whose game is built more on precision than power. Wietgrefe still has plenty to prove, and the Pirates would be wise not to treat him like a finished product. But his rise gives them something valuable: a real homegrown option.
And with Brandon Lowe approaching free agency, significant arbitration raises coming and other areas of the roster needing attention, every dollar matters this winter. If Wietgrefe becomes a real depth piece, that gives Cherington more room to chase offense or add veteran pitching elsewhere.
That’s the balance here. Wietgrefe is not a proven answer.
He’s an intriguing one. And for a Pirates team trying to stretch every resource, that distinction matters.
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