From phone call to handshake: How David Bednar and the Pirates close out a win

The lights go out. “Renegade” is blaring. As David Bednar jogs to the mound to save the game, Pittsburgh Pirates fans are cheering.

As the Styx song blares, the PNC Park scoreboard shows a montage of Bednar’s best strikeouts. It’s a grand introduction for the Mars alum, who doesn’t really need one in his hometown.

“It fires me up. It’s one of the better ones in the league — and just knowing him makes it even better. He’s from here. We call him ‘Mr. Renegade,’ ” said Pirates reliever Colin Holderman, Bednar’s locker mate in the home clubhouse. “You know he’s going to close the door. He loves it, and there’s no one that loves Pittsburgh more than him. You know he’s going to care more than anybody in the world.”

Bednar, the Pirates’ 29-year-old right-hander and two-time All-Star closer, is so locked in that he doesn’t pay much attention to his walkout music or the commotion it causes as he enters the game.

“It’s more or less that I’m kind of blacking it out a little bit,” Bednar said. “The only thing I’m thinking about is how I’m going to get these guys out. That’s all I’m focused on.”

While that sequence of events rallies the crowd at PNC Park, there is much more behind the scenes that prepares one of the game’s top relief pitchers to compete in the game’s most stressful of situations.

Bednar’s routine starts long before the bullpen gets the call from the dugout. Around the bottom of the sixth inning, he starts stretching and jogging to activate his body.

Before the Pirates reach the ninth inning of a close game, the bullpen phone rings. Bullpen coach Justin Meccage answers, getting word from Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin to have Bednar warm up.

“It’s the same thing every time,” Meccage said. “For Bednar, he’ll first throw a green heavy ball three times to get him locked in, and then we’ll go through three or four of the hitters that are coming up.”

After reading the scouting reports on the batters he will face, Bednar likes to work on a specific pitch while warming up.

“The most important thing is just getting the fastball right and then just feeling the spin because then you realize you have pitches out on the mound to get really right,” Bednar said. “It’s more of getting that feel for everything. Everything doesn’t have to be super crisp. It’s more about getting that feel out of your hand and what your stuff is doing that day because each day is different.”

That helps Bednar prepare for the task ahead, which is the greatest challenge for a closer: recording the final three outs.

“It’s the hardest three outs of the game by far,” said Holderman, who often serves as Bednar’s setup man but has finished 15 games in his career. “Those last three are definitely harder than the ones in the eighth. There’s something different about it. … Those outs are so much harder. His mental fortitude is insane. And the way he prepares and everything, there’s a reason he has success there. It’s not an accident.”

Bednar has battled some ups and downs this season. After being sidelined for much of spring training with a lat injury, he endured a slow start that included a blown save in a four-run ninth inning of a 5-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers on April 9.

Pirates manager Derek Shelton points to Bednar’s track record as why he never wavered on his closer, even though Bednar has a 5.17 ERA. Bednar became the backbone of the bullpen just a year after being acquired from the San Diego Padres in the Joe Musgrove trade in January 2021, and he has a 3.00 ERA and 77 saves in his career. Bednar tied for the National League lead with 39 saves last season, converting an MLB-best 92.9% of his opportunities. His 16 saves (in 19 opportunities) this season are tied for fifth in the NL.

“I couldn’t tell you what my ERA is because I haven’t checked,” Bednar said. “For me it’s going out there and getting ahead of the guys I’m pitching against and making sure I’m feeling good.”

The Pirates are counting on Bednar be a major contributor toward their playoff push, and his big entrance has become an electric moment not only for the PNC Park crowd but for their bullpen.

“It brings a little different energy,” Meccage said. “The guys get fired up down there.”

When Bednar takes the mound, he has a game plan for each opposing hitter. But he’s more concerned with results, especially getting ahead early and winning 1-1 counts. With four-seam and split-fingered fastballs and a curveball in his arsenal, Bednar believes what makes him good is he can throw any of his pitches in any count.

“I’m focused on getting outs, no matter how it happens,” Bednar said. “It doesn’t matter. You look at all the numbers, but at the end of the day, it’s about getting three outs and saving the game. That’s the only thing: no matter what, finding a way to get it done.

“It’s about knowing the situation and, if some traffic comes on, it’s bear down by any means necessary and getting that out. It’s not always going to be pretty. It’s all about realizing that there’s always a way out. No matter how tricky a situation gets, there’s always going to be a way and it’s all about just finding that way.”

All Bednar wants to do is record the last three outs to secure a win. Then he can enjoy the celebratory handshake line, one of his favorite perks of being the closer.

“Dapping up the catcher means you did your job and you got the win,” Bednar said. “That’s the most important thing.”