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Wilber Dotel’s promotion to big leagues came sooner than expected thanks to a glaring need in the Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen.
The Pirates used six of their eight relief pitchers — and essentially all those who were available — in a 13-inning rain-interrupted game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday.
Ahead of Sunday’s rubber match, the Pirates made a move. Cam Sanders, who was the first reliever used after a two hour and 27 minute rain delay on Saturday, was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis and Dotel took his place on the roster.
Dotel, who was added to the team’s 40-man roster this offseason, made only three starts at Triple-A ahead of his promotion.
“Not really [expected], Dotel said of his promotion through coach/interpreter Stephen Morales. “But I felt my whole stay down there, if I control the things that I can control, it’s going to be a matter of time.”
Dotel has spent six seasons in the organization after he was signed out of the Dominican Republic for just $60,000 in 2020. The 23-year-old has emerged as one of the better arms in the system and is currently considered Pittsburgh’s 12th-best prospect by MLB Pipeline.
Dotel was 1-2 with a 6.28 ERA with Indianapolis to begin the season. While his numbers were underwhelming through the early portion of the season, Dotel feels he’s in a good spot.
“I’ve been feeling good, body-wise and everything, attacking the strike zone,” he said. “As always going about my business. I feel really good. Comfortable and good.”
Dotel was with Indianapolis in Omaha, Neb., when he was informed the Pirates were calling him up. The right-hander was in the middle of a pregame workout when he was told to stop.
Following a pretty hectic travel schedule, Dotel arrived in Pittsburgh in the hours leading up to Sunday’s first pitch.
“I had to go home after the game and get all my stuff ready,” he explained. “I woke up at 2 in the morning to catch a flight. The flight was fine. It was tough but not impossible, and we’re here.”
Dotel didn’t have to wait around too long to make his big-league debut. For now, the Pirates will use him out of the bullpen, and he got his first chance in the ninth inning to preserve a four-run lead over the Rays.
Dotel immediately had a welcome to the big leagues moment when Rays slugger Junior Caminero hit a leadoff home run to left field to trim the Pirates’ lead to three. But Dotel rebounded to strike out Jonathan Aranda, retired Yandy Díaz on a chopper back to the mound and got Cedric Mullins to fly out to end the game.
“Oh man, that was impressive,” manager Don Kelly said after the 6-3 win. “Especially for a guy making his debut in the ninth inning with a lead and he gave up a homer and then come back with triple digits and stay in the zone. That was phenomenal.”
Dotel has been used as a starting pitcher for most of his career, and has been exclusively in the rotation since the start of the 2024 season.
Sunday was the first time Dotel was ever on the mound for the final out of the game. It was a different situation than he’s grown accustom to, but the rookie did what he needed to do and celebrated with his teammates after the win in front of the PNC Park crowd.
“It felt really good just for me to have the opportunity to pitch my first big-league game today and here at home,” he said. “I felt the energy from the fans. That was a good thing and it felt really good.”
The post Wilber Dotel Handles Brand New Situation for Pirates in MLB Debut appeared first on Pittsburgh Baseball Now.
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