ORLANDO, Florida. — Although reinforcing the offense has been the Pirates’ priority this winter, the club’s first move in free agency focused on strengthening the bullpen. According to a source, Pittsburgh reached an agreement with left-handed reliever
Gregory Soto for
one year and US$7.75 million, pending the results of the physical examination. The team has not yet made the official announcement.
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Soto, 30 years old, brings an important left arm to the Pirates, something the team urgently needed. The Dominican comes from a season in which he recorded a
1-5 record and an ERA of 4.18 in
70 appearances between the Orioles and Mets, accumulating
60.1 innings of work.
Although his effectiveness has surpassed 4.00 earned runs in the last three campaigns, his peripheral statistics told a more encouraging story. In 2025 he limited batters to a 4% barrel rate (97th percentile), achieved a 31.5% out-of-zone swing, a 29.9% whiff rate and a total of 70 strikeouts, for a solid 25.1% strikeout rate.
Uneven performance against rights and lefts
One of Soto’s most marked differences in 2025 was his performance according to the batter’s hand:
- Right-handed hitters hit for an OPS of .801.
- Left-handed hitters barely hit .192 with an OPS of .549.
His repertoire includes a sinker between 90-95 mph, a devastating slider with 45.5% missed swings, as well as a four-seam fastball and a sweeper. Although opponents batted .314 against his sinker in 2025, that average had been just .200 in 2023, even though the pitch movement remains similar.
Key reinforcement for a bullpen in transition
Soto’s signing comes after the Pirates were out of the bidding for Kyle Schwarber, which opened up financial space to address other needs. Three of the most important bullpen arms — Dennis Santana, Isaac Mattson, and Justin Lawrence — are right-handed, so the addition of an experienced lefty is strategic.
The club had recently added left-hander Tyler Samaniego to the roster, but sent him to Boston in the trade for Venezuelan Jhostynxon García.
The Pittsburgh bullpen already looks very different from the one that began the 2025 season. Closer David Bednar and setup man Colin Holderman are not on the team, while youngsters Brandan Bidois and Ryan Harbin were added to the roster. Everything indicates that the final structure of the bullpen for 2026 is still to be defined, but Soto is a fixed piece in that equation.
The Pirates’ roster currently has
39 players, so they could still select a player in the
Rule 5 Draft on Wednesday.
