Jul 1, 2026 3 min read

Comedy Relief was a non-profit charitable organization that would raise funds decades ago with popular comedy shows featuring big-name funnymen, and funnywomen, that were televised by HBO.

I’m reminded of those Comedy Relief shows these days every time the Pirates make a call to their bullpen.

Comedy relief has been the Pirates’ undoing this season.

For much of the year, the bullpen — almost always a strength in the past, even in the recent forgettable seasons — has threatened to derail this team. No lead is safe. You never feel confident when you see manager Don Kelly walking toward the mound and signaling to the bullpen for another pitcher. The relievers have been too prone to blowups.

The bullpen is why the Pirates entered Wednesday night’s game at Philadelphia with a 43-43 record and in fourth place in the National League’s Central Division. A .500 record. Not half bad, but not so good, too.

Pittsburgh is second in the National League in blown saves with 17. What has saved the Pirates is they have 13 come-from-behind wins, and that’s a difficult trend to keep up over an entire season.

General manager Ben Cherington will have to address the bullpen problem this month, before baseball’s trade deadline. The pitcher most coveted by Pirates fans is Boston closer Aroldis Chapman. He’s played for the Pirates, the Red Sox are likely to fall out of playoff contention and the Pirates have enough young talent to make an enticing offer for Chapman.

While relief pitchers are the easiest position to acquire at the trade deadline, don’t assume the Pirates are frontrunners for Chapman, who has an 0-3 record, 2.19 ERA and 16 saves.

Almost every other team in baseball needs better relief pitchers at this point in the season. One other team that will be looking for bullpen help is the deep-pocketed Los Angeles Dodgers. They had the second-worst bullpen ERA in the majors in June.

The price to acquire Chapman will be high. The Pirates might be better suited to look elsewhere for help, and do it fast, before the comedy show ends all postseason hopes.

Catching fire

If the Pirates’ lack of production from the catcher position frustrates you, then here is a statistic that will add to that: Cleveland catcher Austin Hedges has a .270 batting average.

Yes, that Austin Hedges.

Hedges played in 65 games for Pittsburgh in 2023 and was widely criticized because of his .180 batting average. Hedges had a career batting average of less than .200 through 11 major league seasons entering this year.

The hitting coach in Cleveland must be doing wonders with Hedges.

The hitting coach? It’s former Wild Things third baseman Grant Fink.

Sports editor Chris Dugan can be reached at dugan@observer-reporter.com