If there’s one thing the Pittsburgh Pirates wish they had in the first half of the 2026 season, it was relief pitching depth. The Bucs’ bullpen struggled through the first few months of the season and didn’t have much at Triple-A to call upon for help. With a multitude of minor league players hitting minor league free agency, the Pirates can add some interesting Triple-A depth so they’re not caught in a similar situation in 2027.
Jairo Iriarte
Jairo Iriarte was once a noteworthy prospect in the San Diego Padres’ and Chicago White Sox’s farm systems. He was one of the main prospects heading to the White Sox in the Dylan Cease trade. Although Iriarte made his MLB debut in 2024, pitching 6.1 innings, he has not appeared in MLB since.
After struggling in the minor leagues in 2025, Iriarte posted respectable numbers in 2026 between Double-A and Triple-A. In 64.1 innings, Iriarte pitched to a 2.52 ERA, 4.07 FIP, and a 1.18 WHIP. The right-hander struck out 23.8% of opponents with a HR/9 ratio of only 0.70. His 59.5% ground ball rate was the seventh highest among minor league hurlers with 60+ IP. However, he had a pedestrian 10.4% walk rate.
Iriarte throws four pitches. His primary offering is a sinker, which sat at 94.4 MPH with 17.3 inches of arm-side break. He also throws a four-seam fastball around the similar velocity range, coming in at 94.7 MPH with similar arm-side run. Both his mid-80s cutter and upper-80s changeup induced a whiff rate over 30% at Triple-A. One thing that makes Iriarte’s stuff play up is his seven feet of extension. His pitches gain about a tick of velocity because his release point is so far out in front.
Nick Robertson
Nick Robertson was a former seventh-round pick by the LA Dodgers. The right-hander made his MLB debut in 2023 with LA; however, he has only pitched 35.2 innings for four organizations in the Majors between 2023 and 2024. After bouncing around from team to team the last three seasons, Robertson returned to the Dodgers and posted some interesting numbers.
In 55.2 innings between Double-A and Triple-A, Robertson owned a 1.13 ERA, 3.31 FIP, and 0.83 WHIP. He had a 31.8% K% and walked only 8.4% of opponents. He was one of just ten minor league pitchers with a K-BB% over 20% (23.4%) and an ERA under 2.00. Robertson also induced a ground ball at a healthy 47.5%, and held batters to a 0.65 HR/9.
Robertson’s fastball comes in around 94-95 MPH with about average IVB and 9.5 inches of arm-side break. His upper-80s changeup had a 35.4% whiff percentage and 14 inches of arm-side movement. Robertson’s third pitch is an upper-80s slider, which got a whiff on 55% of swings at Triple-A.
Nick Garcia
Some Pirates fans may recognize the name, Nick Garcia. The Bucs drafted the right-hander in the third round of the 2020 draft, then traded him to the Colorado Rockies for Connor Joe in the 2022-2023 offseason. Since then, Garcia has appeared in the minor leagues for the Rockies, San Francisco Giants, and most recently the Seattle Mariners. Garcia is also coming off his best minor league season yet.
Garcia pitched 59 innings, 56 of them at the M’s Triple-A affiliate. His bottom line included a 2.44 ERA, 3.86 FIP, and 1.22 WHIP. He induced impressive results for the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. Garcia also struck out 28.2% of opponents, with a 9.8% walk rate. His ground ball rate was also over 50%, at 52.8%, which helped him post a 0.61 HR/9 ratio.
Garcia’s primary pitch is a sinker that sat 94.4 MPH this season. He threw the pitch with about average movement as well. His primary breaking pitch is a low-80s curveball with just over 16 inches of glove-side action. He rounds out his pitch mix with an upper-80s slider and a mid-80s changeup. Garcia also has above-average extension, which makes his velocity play up slightly.
Eli Morgan
Eli Morgan has more success in MLB than most minor league free agents. From 2022 through 2024, the right-hander pitched to a 3.27 ERA, 3.71 FIP, and a 1.12 WHIP over 176 innings with the Cleveland Guardians. He struck out over a quarter of opponents with a 25.1% K%, and had a 6.6% walk rate. Although he had a 1.18 HR/9, he also had an 86.4 MPH exit velocity.
However, Morgan has pitched only 26.2 innings in MLB over the last two seasons, with an ERA over 7.00. He spent most of the 2026 season at Triple-A, splitting the season with the Kansas City Royals’ and New York Yankees’ affiliates. He posted solid numbers overall, with a 2.21 ERA, 3.57 FIP, and a 1.39 WHIP over 36.2 innings of work. He posted a 28.9% K% and a 0.49 HR/9 ratio, but handed out a free pass 13.8% of the time.
Morgan has never been a hard-throwing pitcher. He only sits 91-92 MPH with his four-seam fastball. However, he makes up for it with 18 inches of induced vertical break and nearly ten inches of arm-side run. His mid-80s changeup induced a whiff on over a third of swings against it at Triple-A this season. It was also his most-used pitch this season. Morgan also tosses a mid-80s slider. Morgan’s previous MLB success gives him something most minor league signees don't have.
Codi Heuer
Codi Heuer was a once-promising relief pitcher with the Chicago Cubs and White Sox. He posted solid numbers in 2020 and 2021, and was traded from the Sox to the Cubs in the Craig Kimbrel swap at the ‘21 trade deadline. However, injuries have since derailed him. On the plus side, he is coming off back-to-back strong Triple-A seasons.
The right-hander split the 2026 minor league season with the Baltimore Orioles’ and Cleveland Guardians’ Triple-A teams, working to a 2.21 ERA, 3.98 FIP, and a 1.13 WHIP. Heuer only walked 7.8% of opponents, but had a 20.9% K%. His ground ball rate came in at 50.9% as well. Despite Heuer’s low K%, he still had a 32.1% whiff rate.
The injuries haven’t slowed down Heuer’s fastball. He sat 95.8 MPH with his four-seamer this season, compared to 95.9 MPH in 2021. His mid-80s slider induced an impressive whiff rate of 49.2%. Heuer is primarily a fastball/slider pitcher, but he occasionally mixed in a mid-90s sinker and upper-80s changeup. Heuer throws his stuff with just over seven feet of extension, which makes his perceived velocity climb by just over one whole MPH.
