Bednar earns 100th career save, savors PNC Park moment

PITTSBURGH -- David Bednar threw one final warmup pitch, walked through the bullpen gate and made his trek to PNC Park’s pitcher’s mound on Saturday night.

The ballpark goes black. Tommy Shaw’s voice starts to play through the sound speakers as the a cappella opening of Styx’s "Renegade" begins.

Bednar’s entrance video plays on the scoreboard, featuring mostly long shots of the closer in the shadows before framing a side profile of his face, Bednar cracking a grin as the scream “yeah” echoes through the ballpark.

It’s a perfect cocktail of yinzer pride and cool. Bednar followed that ceremonious entrance with another dominant performance, punching two tickets in a 1-2-3 frame to cement the Pirates’ 2-0 win over the Diamondbacks.

That save was his 16th of the season and also the 100th of his career, becoming just the fifth Pirate to reach the century mark for saves.

“Always great pitching at PNC Park. That was awesome, especially after some ups and downs,” a beaming Bednar said postgame. “Makes moments like this that much sweeter."

This hasn’t been the smoothest season for Bednar. Right now, he may just be the hottest relief pitcher in the game, having gone 23 straight outings without allowing an earned run, but he was unceremoniously optioned to the Minors on April 1 after taking two losses in the opening series in Miami. When he did return, the two-time All-Star had to work his way back into the ninth-inning role, so that entrance video rarely played for months.

Bednar spent his first three years in Pittsburgh growing into one of the game's top relievers. He missed almost all of Spring Training in 2024, struggled and was removed from the closer role. This year has been a rebound to reestablish himself as one of the game’s best ninth-inning men.

“I’m just so happy for that guy, all the hard work and determination and all the stuff that he’s gone through that nobody even sees or knows about, fans don’t hear about it,” Mitch Keller said earlier this homestand. “They just want to see the product on the field. That’s understandable. But he puts a lot of hard work in. I couldn’t be happier for him, as a friend and as a teammate.”

And he’s done it all for his hometown team. He grew up in this ballpark, and now he’s blowing down doors here.

"It's really special,” Bednar said. “I think every day, I just have to pinch myself. It's so special. It's been awesome."

It may also be coming to an end soon. There’s a chance Saturday was the last time that closer entrance video will play. The Pirates have one more game Sunday to wrap up this homestand and will then go to San Francisco. Thursday is the Trade Deadline, and Bednar is a candidate to be dealt.

This isn’t the first time Bednar has been part of trade rumors, and there’s no guarantee anything will happen. He still has a year of control remaining, and the Pirates know they need to compete in 2026. Having a stud closer in place definitely would help accomplish that.

But there are plenty of other teams who are looking for a capital 'C' closer, and Bednar is one of the best options out there. He’s been connected to teams like the Phillies and Tigers in the rumor mill. The Pirates have had scouts spotted at the affiliates of the latter club. (That scouting could be for a variety of potential trades, not necessarily a Bednar one, of course.)

So this may not be the first time Bednar has had to wait and see what will happen at the end of July, but it does feel like more of a possibility than a few years ago.

"I think ultimately it's just controlling what you can control,” Bednar said. “Some decisions are so far out of what's in the realm of what I can control. Just be where my feet are and attack each day."

At the end of the night, after the clubhouse had mostly cleared out and PNC Park was silent, Bednar came out to the playing field again and took some pictures. He hit a big personal milestone in his hometown. Time will tell if he can do it again.

“Just kind of soaking in every moment,” Bednar said, choking up a bit. “Like I said, being where my feet are and enjoying the hell out of it."