Is Carmen Mlodzinski Actually the Pirates’ Best 5th Starter Option?

0:00The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports. Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Hey, I'm Josh Speagle, host of the podcast, Lunatic in the newsroom. If you enjoy journalism that drifts into mild panic, wild overthinking, and a guaranteed nervous breakdown, Lunatic in the newsroom is for you. It's news like you've never heard before. The only newsroom with a panic button, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and gasp and horror as the show spirals completely out of control. It's not just news, it's emotionally unstable. Lunatic in the newsroom, listen today.

1:01Every team, every topic, everywhere, this is believed. Yeah, we've got an intro now. How about that? Happy Friday, everyone. This is Offbeat. Daily look at the Pittsburgh Pirates brought to you by North Shore 9, presented by Fandall. My name is Alex Stumpf. And I would like to talk about the Pirates starting rotation, you know, not the reigning Sai Young winner, not the pitcher who has the most wins in PNC Park's history, not the pitcher who is a rookie of the year contender this year. No, I would like to talk about someone who is competing for the fifth starter job that

2:03I think a lot of people would prefer he stay in the bullpen. And that's Carmen Maginski. To properly tell this, I think we have to go back in time a little bit, some, a little preamble here. Carmen Maginski is drafted as a starting pitcher, spent most of his time in the minors as a starting pitcher, got called up in 2023 as a reliever and did really well, really solid showing, look like someone who could contribute either as a multi inning arm or someone who has the potential to slot into a back end of a bullpen. Same thing happens in 2024, use more in the middle relief role, but someone's like, yeah, he could be a set up man one day, 2025, Jared Jones gets hurt during spring training. And Carmen Maginski was stretching out anyway to potentially start. He ends up winning the fifth starter job and it doesn't go well.

3:09It was a rough situation for him to come in whenever he did, you know, not a ton of experience in this type of role in the upper levels, not a lot of experience going through a lineup a couple times in the upper levels and it really showed in the majors. He would be really solid for an inning or two or one trip through the lineup in particular and then the second time through the wheels would come off. I want to look at left handed hitters, how they performed against the righty here. Last year, whenever he was a starting pitcher, Carmen Maginski, first time through the lineup, first hit 220, 264 OBP 320 slugging percentage, that's pretty good at the end of the day. Now everyone does their worst as a hitter, the first time through the lineup, like pitchers

4:12usually do better the first time through than the second time they tire, hitters get to see everything they have. It usually gets worse the second and third time through the order. Maginski, it got pretty horrible the second time through the order. Hitters hit 220 the first time through the order, left handers the second time through the order 318 slugging percentage for a left handers first time through the order 320, second time 614. This is why Carmen Maginski didn't stick as a starting pitcher and why they pulled the plug on this in mid-May. He just couldn't get hitters out the second time through and that's really what differentiates someone from a relief pitcher and a starting pitcher. I will admit, whenever it happened, watching it live, it's like, well, he's a reliever and there's nothing wrong with being a solid major league reliever, which is what I thought his trajectory would be.

5:12Goes down to the minor leagues, comes back up, pitches really well out of the bullpen again and it's like, well, okay, that just further establishes this guy is a relief pitcher, not a starting pitcher. It wasn't the same Carmen Maginski that we saw though, like whenever he went down to the minors, he said he really wanted to re-evaluate what pitches he was using, what he could do differently, and his takeaway was the splitter. This is a very intriguing pitch for me. For a multitude of reasons, the big one being what we saw last year with the splitter. Whenever he was a starting pitcher facing left-handed hitters, he used the splitter about as often as his sweeper and his slider. Now the slider was a really good pitch whenever he was in the early stages of the minors,

6:14and he was also pitching an off of a sinker. Maginski uses a four seamer, a whole lot more in the major leagues. Those pitches don't tunnel. That pitch was kind of going naked and it was going up against left-handers and the sweeper and the slider without something to tunnel off of. That's just a breaking ball that is breaking in towards left-handed hitters. The results speak for themselves. A 6-14 sluggish percentage, second time through the order, I need to keep hammering that point home. I don't think it's a necessarily bad pitch, I don't think either one was a necessarily bad pitch, but without anything to tunnel, it just wasn't going to work, in my opinion. I think the data kind of backs that up. Maginski goes down to the minors, he comes back up to the majors, and second half of the season, he doesn't throw sliders or sweepers to left-handers. His mix now is four seamer, splitter, curveball.

7:17He is working north to south. He is not trying to get beat inside against left-handed hitters. Left-handed hitters, the second half of the season, facing that new pitch mix, 164 batting average, 233 OBP, 179 sluggish percentage. Now, I get that comes with an asterisk. He was used exclusively as a reliever during that. So if you want to say, well, yeah, you're just further submitting, this guy should be a reliever, not a starter, okay, that can be a takeaway here. I take it the other way, that he used this new pitch mix, and his sluggish percentage against left-handers, first time through the order as a reliever, second half of the season, 179. He was a starter, 320. He did significantly better with this new pitch mix than he did even in his best case scenario whenever he was starting here. This is an intriguing pitch.

8:19It is going to dive south. It is going to make him work as a north-south pitcher against left-handers, which is what I think he needs to do. I think that's the only way he can be really effective. He could work side-to-side and use the east-to-west against right-handers, have a pitch that runs away from him, have two, like that's fine. Have those waist pitches, have pitches that you can throw in, you know, the outer part of his own to right-handers, but if you can avoid those with the left-handers and just attack in a way that doesn't make him comfortable, I think that makes him a much more intriguing starting pitch in Canada. Then I went down to Braden to Nurtler this month, and he didn't have a great start. He did not have a great start whenever I saw him there, but he put it together as the yawning went on, and he really leaned on the splitter. He talked afterwards about how he noticed he didn't really have the fastball, so the splitter became his go-to pitch, and it worked, and he was throwing it to both right-handers

9:22and left-handers. He was getting good results against both better-handness. It was that I could look at the metrics, I could look at the data from last year, but it's the feel for me, that whenever he was presented with a tough opportunity, even at a spring training game, I know it doesn't count, but you know, I think it's telling that it's like, I don't have my stuff today, what am I going to go to? He felt confident that he could go to the splitter, and that the splitter unit good results. This episode is brought to you by IQBAR, our exclusive snack hydration sponsor, IQBAR protein bars, IQBix hydration mixes, and IQJo mushroom coffees are the delicious, low-sugar, brain and body fuel you need to win your day. The ultimate sampler pack is a great way for you to try all IQBAR products and flavors. You get 9 IQBars, 8 IQ Mixed Dicks, and 4 IQ Joe Sticks. All IQBAR products are clean-label certified and entirely free from gluten, dairy, soy,

10:27GMOs, and artificial ingredients. With over 20,000 five-star reviews and counting, more people than ever are feeling their lifestyles with IQBars, brain and body boosting bars, hydration mixes, and mushroom coffees. The ultimate sampler pack includes all three. My personal favorite so far have been the almond butter chip and the iced tea lemonade hydration mix. It's just really full of flavor. I love starting my day with it, and I couldn't imagine starting my day with anything else other than IQBAR products. Right now, IQBars offering our podcast listeners 20% off all IQBAR products, including the ultimate sampler pack, plus free shipping. To get your 20% off, text MLB to 64,000. That's MLB 6400. Message and data rates may apply, see terms for details. This is something that I think really needs to be considered whenever we're looking at

11:27this fifth starter competition that we got in camp right now. There's cleverger, there's ureckity, there's abarco, there's other options. Like Majewski isn't here as solely the only option to be the starting pitcher, and that's fine. He shouldn't be. There's also the theoretical chance the Pirates could sign someone. I mean, it's still not outrageously deep in the camp. Okay, it's pretty deep in the camp, but there's still some time that if they wanted to bring someone in and build them up, it's not out of the realm of possibility. I'm growing pretty doubtful of that at this point, but they don't have a left-handed starter in this rotation. You don't need one, in my opinion, even if you have one, there are going to be plenty of series where you're just going to throw three right-handers, that's fine. But I think you always need that pitcher who could handle left-handers. And that's why the South Paw was such a staple in this rotation for years.

12:32The veteran South Paw, the Tyler Anderson, the Jose Contana, the Rich Hills, the Marco Gonzaleses, the Andrew Heaney's, those type of guys were always in an opening day rotation. Really don't have one right now. Maybe Hunter Barco wins the fifth starter job or gets caught up at some point and becomes that guy. I think he has that potential, but they don't have that guy right now. I would like someone who can handle left-handers, and I'm not counting like Paul Schienz, who just handles everyone. I think Mijinsky's splitter makes him someone who can handle left-handers. Someone who, last year, the starting pitching experiment failed because he couldn't handle left-handers, could kind of be like a semi-left-handed specialist because of this splitter. And how he uses it and how he is going to attack hitters north to south. We have to see him do it two, three times through or line up. That's fine. We're not going to really know that until the actual results. And if he ends up going to the bullpen, what I'm saying I think could really apply still

13:35well. Like, I think he could still be a very solid major league reliever in all of this. But if you have a chance to have a quality starter, that's worth more than a quality reliever. Like last year, if he would have been just a starting pitcher, he probably would have thrown like 50-60 really good innings, that first time through the line up, and then 100 mediocre ones, the second to third, mediocre to bad, maybe even sub placement level. And that point, it's like, well, what are you doing here? You're just having 100 mediocre ridnings out here. Just having a reliever and having those 60 good innings. I get that argument. I don't think this time it's the same though. I don't know if he was put exactly in a good position last year to start. I feel like there was a little bit of a doom to fail, trade with this, because of the pitch mix, because of the lack of experience, because of the fact that he didn't really

14:37get a lot of leash in a lot of starts. A lot of starts, he was pulled after 18 batters. His last start in the Derek Shelton era, Shelton pulled him after four and two thirds innings because he was about to face the line up the third time through. Now from a pure analytical standpoint, yeah, that might have been the right call. Maybe from a machismo, from a do right for the player standpoint, no, you let him try to get that out and you let him try to qualify for a win. I feel like there was a little bit of a doom to fail, trade with everything that he was doing as a starting pitcher last year. I don't see that this year. I see this as a more competitive ball club. I see this as a young pitcher who learned from those mistakes last year, applied himself in AAA, worked hard, got another opportunity in the majors, maybe not in the role that he wanted. I mean, everyone knows he wants to be a starting pitcher. I don't blame him at all for that. I don't fault him at all for that. You should want to be the best version of yourself, but the opportunity was in the bullpen.

15:43He was happier to be in the majors, he pitched well on that. I think carbon maginsky could be a really solid, major league starter, and I don't know if I would have believed myself, if I would have said that in May of 2025. I think the failures that he endured, he took good lessons from it, and he's got a really good pitch here that he's utilizing in a brand new way. I would like to see how this turns out over a course of a full season. I really like what I've seen from a lot of the guys competing for the fifth starter job, but if it was me, I think I would start the year with him in the rotation and see where he can take you. Thank you so much for listening to Offbeat. If you haven't already subscribed, you can, wherever you find, find podcasts or here on YouTube. Thank you again for listening. This is Offbeat, presented by North Shore 9, presented by Fandall.

16:45We'll see you all on Monday. All right. That wraps up this episode of North Shore 9. Thanks so much for tuning in whether you're listening on the podcast or catching us on YouTube. If you enjoyed this show, please give this video a thumbs up and don't forget to hit that subscribe button if you haven't already. It really helps us grow. If you're listening on the podcast, a quick review goes a long way in helping others find the show. Plus, be sure to tell a friend about us. There's always room for more here in the NS9 community. For those looking to support us a little more, consider joining our Patreon. Become an MVP member and get exclusive perks while helping us continue to bring you more of the pirates content you love. Thanks again for all your support and let's go bucks. The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports.

17:57Right now, the NBA is heating up, March Manus is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I could follow the teams I care about, get real-time scores, breaking news, and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment. Hi, this is Alex Cantrowitz. I'm the host of Big Technology podcast, a long time reporter and an on-air contributor to CNBC. And if you're like me, you're trying to figure out how artificial intelligence is changing the business world and our lives. So each week on Big Technology, I bring on key actors from companies building AI tech and outsiders trying to influence it, asking where this is all going. They come from places like Nvidia, Microsoft, Amazon, and plenty more. So if you want to be smart with your wallet, your career choices, and meetings with your colleagues, and at dinner parties, listen to Big Technology podcast wherever you get your