5 for 5: Homegrown Starting Rotation a ‘Point of Pride’ for Pirates
Only one team in Major League Baseball is able to say that they have a starting rotation comprised of five homegrown players. The Pittsburgh Pirates .
Mitch Keller (2nd round, 2014), Braxton Ashcraft (2nd round, 2018), Carmen Mlodzinski (Comp A round, 2020), Bubba Chandler (3rd round, 2021) and Paul Skenes (1st round 2023), were all drafted by the Pirates, developed through the organization, and now make up the team’s starting rotation.
“That’s not an easy thing to do,” said general manager Ben Cherington. “I’ve been in the game 30 years, I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of an organization that can say that.”
Eyes for Talent
When Cherington took over as Pirates general manager after the 2019 season, one thing immediately stood out when assessing the organization for which he was now in charge of making all the major roster decisions.
The Pirates knew how to draft pitchers.
“One of the things that was very clear to me right away was that this organization had a high level of confidence and proven competency in identification and development of amateur pitchers,” he explained. “It’s proven out over time. Not every organization can say that.”
Keller was drafted under former general manager Neal Huntington, as was Braxton Ashcraft. But under Cherington, the Pirates have brought in Skenes, who has emerged as perhaps the top starting pitcher in baseball, Chandler, who entered the season as one of the top pitching prospects in the sport, and Carmen Mlodzinski, who has been an effective reliever and is now showing promise as a starter.
A common theme for the five pitchers in the starting rotation is that they are athletic. For example, Skenes used to catch in college at Air Force before focusing on pitching full-time. Chandler was committed to Clemson where he would have played quarterback for the football team in addition to baseball. Ashcraft had a prolific high school football career as a wide receiver.
“They obviously do a really good job of identifying athletes,” said Carmen Mlodzinski. “I think that’s a pretty big thing for us is all of our pitchers are super athletic.”
Development Never Stops
Other than Keller, who made is MLB debut in 2019, the other four pitchers in the rotation all came up through the organization together.
Mlodzinski was the first to get to the Pirates when he debuted in 2023. Skenes emerged as the eventual National League Rookie of the Year a season later. Ashcraft took a big-league for the first time last May, and Chandler followed in August.
“We’ve had a lot of the same coaches, a lot of the same experiences, been to all the same places coming up,” explained Skenes. “I played with Bubba, Braxton and Carmen coming up at some point and obviously have been with Mitch for a couple years now. It’s pretty dang cool.”
During Cherington’s introductory press conference when he was announced as general manager, he spoke of four areas in which the Pirates need to thrive in order to get good players into the organization — identification, acquisition, development and deployment.
When it comes to starting pitching, the Pirates have succeeded in those efforts.
“I think it shows here in the big leagues, having homegrown guys who are filling out the rotation, one, their talent and work ethic and how they go about it,” said manager Don Kelly . “Two, to the depth and development that we have, the ability they have to develop really good starting pitchers.”
Development is often associated with coming up through the minor leagues, but it doesn’t stop once a player reaches the majors.
The Pirates have a plethora of coaches to work with pitchers on staff, now headlined by pitching coach Bill Murphy. Each pitcher on the active roster is constantly learning and continuing to find ways to get better.
“You have to be able to evolve,” said Mlodzinski. “I think our staff has done a good job of just knowing that and knowing what each guy specifically needs to continue to do to get better and communicating that.”
Healthy Competition
The Pirates starting rotation is an extremely tight-knit group. It’s apparent from their interactions in the clubhouse, how they talk about one another in interviews, and the fact that they all watch a given day’s starter in the bullpen before the game.
The fact that they all have the shared experience of being drafted by the Pirates to helping the team win games adds to their closeness, and with that closeness comes healthy competition.
“I think it’s a point of pride for all of us to be here in the same room and to be able to contribute to this team the way we have,” said Ashcraft. “I think everybody’s pulling for each other equally as much as they’re pulling for themselves. With that comes competition with each other. Being able to root for somebody to have an unbelievable outing just so you can go out there and one-up them.”
The rotation came into this season with high expectations and has so far lived up to the hype. Entering Friday afternoon’s game against the Chicago Cubs , the Pirates rank fifth in baseball and third in the National League with a 2.87 ERA.
But while all the other teams bought or traded for help in their rotation, the Pirates did it the hard way.
“We challenge each other,” explained Skenes. “We make each other better. Learn from each other. To be able to kind of build off each other’s outings – wins, losses, it’s a unique experience.”
The post 5 for 5: Homegrown Starting Rotation a ‘Point of Pride’ for Pirates appeared first on Pittsburgh Baseball Now .
