2012 Roster Possibilities: Bullpen

In his time with Pittsburgh, Neal Huntington has been able to assemble decent bullpens for low costs.  He would bring in veteran relievers, such as Brendan Donnelly, Jose Veras, Javier Lopez, who had some success in the year or two before at the majors for prices around $1 Million.  These players would stick around for a year or so then be traded or designated for assignment and the process would begin again.  However, heading into 2012 the bullpen appears to be nearly set with players already in the organization.
Generally, bullpens are made up of seven pitchers in the National League so the team can carry five bench position players.  Three relievers, Daniel McCutchen, Jason Grilli, and All-Star closer Joel Hanrahan, are all coming off successful seasons and appear to be locks for the bullpen in 2012.  That leaves four spots left, two of which are likely to be filled by Evan Meek and Chris Resop.  Evan Meek had a stellar season in 2010, making the All-Star team and finishing with a 2.14 ERA, but battled injuries in 2011 and only appeared in 24 games.  Resop appeared in 76 games in 2011, which was the second most on the team.  He was inconsistent for most of the season, but finished with a decent 4.39 ERA and a great 10.2 K/9 rate.
This leaves two spots remaining.  Clint Hurdle has said in the past that he prefers having two lefties in the bullpen, but I don’t believe that is going to happen.  The Pirates seem to be pretty high on righty Chris Leroux, who posted a 2.88 ERA in 23 appearances last year, while putting up a good 8.6 K/9 rate.  With one spot remaining, I would imagine it is going to be given to Tony Watson, the lefty reliever who had a solid rookie season in 2011 with a 3.95 ERA and 8.1 K/9 rate in 43 appearances.
It is likely that these seven players will make up the bullpen, and LHP’s Danny Moskos, Jo-Jo Reyes, Doug Slaten and Brian Tallet, and RHP Jared Hughes will provide immediate depth in the minors in case of injury.  Also, prospects Bryan Morris and Justin Wilson have chances of being promoted to the majors at some point during the season.  Both players started the year off in the rotation in their respective levels, but struggles led them to be placed in the bullpen.  In the bullpen, both players put up solid results.  Morris, the player who was supposed to be the prized prospect in the Jason Bay trade, put up a 2.05 ERA in the bullpen, which should allow him to start in the AAA bullpen in 2012.  Wilson, a lefty, was throwing his fastball between 88-93 MPH, but when he switched to a bullpen role he was throwing in the upper 90’s, even touching 99 MPH at a point.  A lefty reliever who can throw in the upper 90’s is very rare, so Wilson could be a valuable part of the bullpen very soon.
The 2012 bullpen looks very similar to the 2011 bullpen, which was reliable at points.  Joel Hanrahan had a great 2011, and if he puts up the same results in 2012 he will cement himself as one of the game’s premier closers.  Evan Meek is finally healthy, so he could return to his 2010 form.  Grilli and Leroux had good stints for the Pirates last year, and hopefully that will continue.  If all of these circumstances come true in 2012, the Pirates will have a reliable bullpen that can back up the rotation when needed and avoid blowing leads to close out games.