Wilber

Dotel

Dotel is one of the best pitching prospects in the Pirates system and has delivered in a small MLB sample size this year, posting a 1.35 ERA and 4/3 K/BB ratio across 6 2/3 innings over three appearances. He should immediately help in the middle innings but could be a factor in the later innings down the stretch if he keeps pitching at this level.

This certainly qualifies as a surprise after Dotel spun four perfect innings during a bulk relief appearance against the Cardinals on Monday. The 23-year-old rookie has vastly outperformed expectations with a microscopic 1.35 ERA and 4/3 K/BB ratio across 6 2/3 innings over three appearances this season. He’ll presumably be back at some point in a couple weeks when the Pirates need some long relief depth.

With all eyes on the Battle of Pennsylvania between the Flyers and Penguins, Dotel and the Pirates nearly threw the first combined perfect game in baseball history. The 23-year-old rookie took over after Mason Montgomey and Justin Lawrence retired six straight batters to open the contest. He sat down all 12 batters he faced, recording three strikeouts in the process, before handing the ball to Evan Sisk in the seventh. He notched a pair of outs before Alec Burleson broke up the perfecto and no-hitter with an infield single. In case you were wondering, the closest any team came previously was the Rays back in 2019 when Ryan Yarbrough and Ryne Stanek took a perfect-game bid into the ninth inning before giving up a hit.

Dotel will follow Mason Montgomery, who likely will get an inning or two before giving way. The 23-year-old has made two appearances since being recalled from Indianapolis with a 3.38 ERA and 1/3 K/BB ratio over 2 1/3 innings.

It’s the first trip to the big leagues for the 23-year-old hurler. Dotel was knocked around in his first three starts at Triple-A Indianapolis, registering a cringe-inducing 6.28 ERA, 1.74 WHIP and a 13/7 K/BB ratio across 14 1/3 innings. He’ll add length to the Pirates’ bullpen but probably won’t be used unless it’s an emergency situation or the game is out of reach.

We’re still early enough in spring training that these large batches of cuts don’t usually come with any major surprises. Harrington pitched well in Grapefruit League action, posting a 1.50 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 2/3 K/BB ratio over six innings. He should get an opportunity with the Pirates at some point during the 2026 campaign.

Valdez is the clear headliner on the heels of a transcendent Arizona Fall League campaign where he batted .368/.513/.842 with eight round-trippers in 19 games. The 21-year-old slugger’s emergence gives the Pirates another potential high-impact bat to pair with blue-chip prospects Konnor Griffin and Edward Florentino, who will enter next season among the top-ranked talents in baseball. He’s officially protected from selection in next month’s Rule 5 Draft and should enter next spring as one of the more exciting talents for fantasy managers to monitor in the upper minors.