Gregory Soto has opened his Pirates season with a 1.59 ERA across 17 appearances and 17.0 innings pitched. The left-hander has become a high-leverage option for Pittsburgh while the club looks to turn a strong bullpen into something bigger over the rest of the year.
Soto's Pirates start
Gregory Soto has missed very little in the zone. He has struck out 23 and walked six, held hitters to a.107 batting average against, and posted a 0.71 WHIP in his first 17 outings.
That run has produced 15 scoreless appearances and only four games in which he has allowed a hit. Pittsburgh signed him to a one-year, $7.75 million deal this offseason, and the early return has been the kind of stability clubs pay for in the back end of a bullpen.
Elite contact numbers
The underlying metrics are just as sharp. Soto’s 82.5 mph average exit velocity ranks in the top 1% of MLB pitchers, while his 24.2% hard hit balls rate sits in the top 3%.
His expected batting average is.151, his expected on-base percentage is.217, his weighted on-base average is.190, and his expected weighted on-base average is.221. He also carries a.270 expected weighted on-base average on contact, with his 1.91 expected ERA ranking in the top 3% of baseball.
Detroit to Pittsburgh
Soto was not arriving as an unknown arm. He made back-to-back All-Star teams with the Detroit Tigers in 2021 and 2022, then joined Pittsburgh on the free-agent deal that put him in position to matter in pressure innings right away.
The Pirates have used him as a high-leverage reliever, and his start gives them another left-handed weapon with proven run prevention. If that mix holds, Soto becomes more than a good April and May line; he becomes part of the bullpen structure Pittsburgh can lean on while trying to extend a season that still needs every clean inning it can get.
