Carmen Mlodzinski the Starter? Pirates Give Him Another Shot

PITTSBURGH — One year after a brief and rocky trial in the rotation, right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski will get another chance to start for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2026, according to a report by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. With spots one through four locked in behind Paul Skenes, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft and Mitch Keller, the final vacancy is up for grabs — and Mlodzinski has retooled his arsenal in hopes of claiming it.

The 2020 first-round pick opened 2025 as a starter but lasted only nine outings. Over 39 2/3 innings he posted a 5.67 ERA, 4.35 FIP and 1.61 WHIP while striking out just 15.6 percent of batters faced. A demotion to Triple-A Indianapolis arrived in mid-May; when Mlodzinski returned in June, it was as a multi-inning reliever. The results were stark: 2.12 ERA, 2.65 FIP, 25.5 percent strikeout rate and a microscopic 0.41 home runs per nine innings the rest of the way.

The turnaround coincided with the birth of a new weapon. Mlodzinski added a splitter last spring that quickly became one of baseball’s most unhittable secondary pitches. Thrown 200-plus times, the offering generated a 43.1 percent whiff rate — eighth-best among splitters league-wide — and held opponents to a .235 batting average and .279 slugging percentage. Exit velocity against the pitch averaged just 85 mph with a three-degree launch angle, producing a barrage of harmless grounders and empty swings.

The problem, Mlodzinski admits, wasn’t the first lap through the order. Hitters managed only a .226/.284/.310 line and .266 wOBA in their initial look last season. The damage came the second time around: a 7.77 ERA and .358/.377/.587 slash line. Armed with a now-polished splitter and a year of lessons, the 25-year-old believes he can flip that script.

Competition for the role will be stiff. Left-hander Hunter Barco and right-hander Thomas Harrington, both highly regarded prospects, are also in camp stretched out as starters. Yet Mlodzinski’s 80 innings of big-league experience — and the memory of his dominant bullpen run — give him a slight edge should the spring prove close.

Pirates officials have stressed that nothing will be handed out. But if Mlodzinski can pair his mid-90s fastball with the improved secondary mix and navigate lineups twice, the back of the 2026 rotation could bear his name.