Mars' David Bednar eager to earn spot in Pirates' bullpen
Mar. 4—David Bednar might be new to the Pirates. But he isn't new to Pittsburgh.
Take how the Mars Area High School alumnus greeted his new bosses for what was something like an "entrance meeting" heading into his first spring training with the club.
"He jumped on (the Zoom call), and the first thing he said to (general manager Ben Cherington) and I was, 'How yinz doing today?'" Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "And it just made me smile."
Perhaps not as much, though, as Bednar smiled upon learning he'd been traded to the Pirates by the San Diego Padres on Jan. 18.
"Aw, man, to be traded to your hometown team, the team you grew up watching, is something special," said Bednar, a 26-year-old 2013 Mars graduate. "For my family to be able to be here to support that and everything is awesome."
A hard-throwing right-hander, Bednar wasn't the headliner among the five players the Pirates acquired in a seven-play deal involving three teams in which the Pirates ceded starter Joe Musgrove. But Bednar is the only one of those five players who had prior major-league experience, and he's the only one who projects having a chance to make the Opening Day roster this season.
Bednar had 19 strikeouts in 17 1/3 innings over 17 appearances for the Padres the past two seasons.
"Just expecting him to go out and throw strikes and execute his fastball and execute his off-speed and see from there," Shelton said. "But he's a guy that's very interesting. Ball comes out of his hand hot."
According to MLB's in-house statistical service, Bednar throws a four-seam fastball on about half his pitches, averaging 95.5 mph. He calls his splitter his "put-away pitch" and also throws a curveball. Bednar had 35 saves over the 2017-19 seasons in the Padres minor-league system.
"I think right now I just need to go out and continue to get outs and earn the trust of the coaching staff," Bednar said, "and continue to prove that I can get outs at the big-league level and make the most out of every opportunity I'm given."
Bednar is one of about a dozen right-handed arms fighting for what might be seven or eight spots in the bullpen. He might not be a guarantee to make the opening-day roster, but that he's made it this far is laudable enough.
According to thebaseballcube.com, Bednar is the only Mars alumnus to make the majors and one of only 10 who made MLB after playing at Lafayette College. He was a 35th-round pick in 2016.
"Just knowing each day you have to earn it," Bednar said. "Being a late-round guy, nothing was given or anything like that. Just going out and proving everybody wrong and earning each opportunity that I'm given."
This newest opportunity is coming for his hometown major-league team, one whose ballpark he grew up about 25 miles north of, a place he visited as a child and teenager and as a college kid back home for the summer.
Built a lot like former Pirates closer Matt Capps, the 6-foot-1, 245-pound Bednar listed Capps among a cadre of Pirates pitchers over the past two decades that he grew up looking up to and emulating. Starter A.J. Burnett and closers Mark Melancon, Jason Grilli and Joel Hanrahan (now pitching coach for the Pirates' Triple-A affiliate) were others.
Perhaps someday, Bednar can add to the lineage of Pirates closers. But for now, just pitching for the organization in Grapefruit League games has been a thrill. Bednar struck out two and did not allow a hit or walk in his Pirates debut Monday against the Toronto Blue Jays. He was scheduled to pitch Thursday against the Atlanta Braves at LECOM Park in Bradenton.
Shelton could palpably feel how special playing for the Pirates is for Bednar.
"It was just so pure, and his excitement of being a Pirate was really cool," Shelton said. "It's exciting anytime you put your hometown uni on. But with the chance to play in the big leagues, it's pretty cool."
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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at cadamski@triblive.com or via Twitter .
