The Pirates Bullpen Still Has One Hole to Fix

The Pirates bullpen could be a real strength in 2027, but there is still one clear hole Alex Stumpf doesn’t think they can ignore: another reliable left-handed reliever.

Gregory Soto had an uneven season, but he was also asked to handle more leverage than originally planned and still finished with 67 innings, 79 strikeouts, a 3.63 ERA and 1.1 WPA. On today’s OffBeat, Alex looks at whether Soto should be brought back, why Mason Montgomery’s emergence doesn’t eliminate the need for another lefty, the internal and free-agent alternatives and how payroll uncertainty could shape the decision.

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