David Bednar

David Bednar throws gas, gets outs, and doesn't care about your feelings. That's basically the job description for a closer in the Bronx, and the former Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star stepped into the role for the New York Yankees like he'd been slamming doors at Yankee Stadium his whole life. After years of dominating in relative obscurity in Pittsburgh, Bednar finally got the stage he deserved when the Yankees traded for him to shore up the back end of the bullpen.

Path to the Bronx

Bednar's road to the majors was the opposite of a straight line. The San Diego Padres drafted him in the 35th round out of Lafayette College in 2016 -- a small Division I school in Easton, Pennsylvania, not exactly a baseball factory. He bounced around the Padres' system for a few years, never cracking the top prospect lists, and was traded to Pittsburgh in a deal that got more attention for the other pieces involved.

Then he figured something out. Bednar's velocity ticked up, his curveball got nastier, and by 2021 he was Pittsburgh's closer. He made the All-Star team in 2022, posted a 2.61 ERA with 19 saves, and threw his curveball past hitters like they'd never seen a breaking ball before. In 2023, he saved 39 games for a last-place Pirates team. (Think about that -- 39 saves for a club that won 76 games. The man was a closer on an island.)

The Yankees came calling ahead of the 2025 season, trading a package of prospects to Pittsburgh for Bednar. The club needed a proven closer after some bullpen inconsistency, and Bednar's track record screamed reliability.

Yankees Career

Bednar's first season in pinstripes went pretty much exactly how you'd draw it up. He locked down the ninth inning, posted strong numbers, and gave the Yankees the kind of certainty at the back of the bullpen that they hadn't had since the prime Mariano Rivera years. (OK, nobody's Mo. But you know what I mean -- a guy you actually trust with a one-run lead.)

Thirty-four saves with a 2.78 ERA. That's not flashy by modern reliever standards -- some closers these days are putting up sub-2.00 numbers -- but it's the kind of steady production that wins games in September and October. Bednar's curveball remained his out pitch, and his fastball still sat 95-97 with the kind of ride that makes hitters swing underneath it. The strikeout rate stayed elite, the walks were manageable, and he only blew four saves all year.

Key Moments

The Ninth Inning, Solved

Closing games in the Bronx is a different animal. The fans expect perfection, the media scrutinizes every blown save like it's a federal investigation, and the spotlight is about ten times brighter than it was in Pittsburgh. Bednar hasn't flinched. He's got that dead-eyed closer mentality -- walk off the mound like nothing happened, whether he just struck out the side or gave up a double before finishing the job.

His curveball is the weapon. It's a big-breaking, high-spin hammer that drops off the table and makes right-handed hitters look silly. When he pairs it with a 96-mph fastball up in the zone, the pitch tunnel is almost impossible to solve. Lefties don't have it much easier -- Bednar held them to a .198 average in 2025, using the curve to backdoor them and the heater to beat them inside.

A closer is supposed to make the ninth inning boring. Bednar does that. And in the Bronx, boring in the ninth is the highest compliment you can get.