Andrew Heaney This season has 23 starts for the Buccaneers, but the manager Don Kelly Tell reporters today (including Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post) Heaney will be eliminated for the rest of the season. The news was immediately put in a vacancy in Bucs’ rotation as Heaney plans to start the game against the Cubs on Sunday.
Just to calm any direct guesses, Hiles reports in subsequent messages that state the star prospect Bubba Chandler Will not be asked to occupy Heaney’s position. Chandler plans to start today for Triple-A Indianapolis and other potential customers Hunter Barco Just pitched on Wednesday, so he didn’t have enough rest to prepare for another start tomorrow. Turn to triple pitchers already in the 40-man lineup, Johan Oviedo Just started yesterday, Tom Harrington On the injured list in Indianapolis. The pirates may only use the bullpen game tomorrow. Carmen Mlodzinski Absorb most likely candidates for the innings.
However, Pittsburgh decided to finally fill the rotation position, and it is worth noting that Heaney headed to the pen. Heaney released a 4.99 ERA in 119 innings, with an almost comprehensive advanced metric in addition to a great 7.4% walk rate. Long balls are once again a problem for Heaney, as only four pitchers in all baseballs have more home runs than the left-handed’s 24 Big Fly allowed. After being a very skilled strikeout pitcher earlier in his career, Heaney’s strikeout rate was medium in the mid-2023-24 and now this year’s strikeout rate fell to 16.1% in the mid-2023-24.
Bucs signed Heaney for a year last winter, $5.25mm free agent trade, and the idea behind the signing was that South Claw would be a bridge to a veteran’s bridge until some young minor league weapons were ready for prime time in the second half of the season. This strategy assumes that Heaney will be processed on the trade deadline, although the Yankees are the only team to openly connect with Heaney Market and ultimately Southpaw is the end of the day since Pittsburgh obviously couldn’t find an acceptable offer.
The move to the pen will have an impact on Heaney’s wallet, as his contract contains incentive bonuses with a total of up to $750,000 in total. He will receive an additional $50,000 for at least 120 innings, hitting 130 innings of $100,000 plus $150,000 for $150,000 for the threshold of 140, 150, 160 and 170 innings.
Between Heaney’s lack of production and the fact that Bucs never saw him as a long-term choice, there were a lot of legitimate baseball reasons after Southpaw evacuated from the rotation. However, given the tight budget of Pirates, the financial factors of Heaney’s role change cannot be ignored. Just last season Rowdy Tellez In late September, he showed up in just four sets without releasing a $200,000 bonus from his piracy contract.
Heaney was primarily a starter in his 12 Major League Baseball seasons, but he has made appearances in the bullpen and served as a swingman. As a remedial, posting some good numbers might help him finish the 2025 high notes, perhaps giving him another way to advance in free agency. If Heaney can find it, Heaney seems to prefer a start job, but being a reliefer for the food bureau, or as a swinger, can help him open up his market with the team that is alert to his recent starter results.
