Pittsburgh Pirates: Former Wildcat Mark Melancon traded to the Nationals

As the trade deadline nears, the NL East-leading Washington Nationals acquire All-Star closer Mark Melancon from the Pittsburgh Pirates

Pittsburgh has been good to relief pitcher Mark Melancon, but his time in a Bucs uniform is over. After spending the better part of the past four seasons with the Pirates, the 3x All-Star was traded to the Washington Nationals for reliever Felipe Rivero and pitching prospect Taylor Hearn.

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The Wheat Ridge, CO native earned only 18 saves during his time with the Arizona Wildcats; however, Melancon has been a late-bloomer of sorts. After earning 21 saves in his first six seasons playing Major League Baseball as a journeyman reliever, Melancon registered 130 saves for the Pirates in four seasons including an impressive 51 saves last 9season.

The key to Melancon’s success in the ninth inning has been the discovery and utilization of his cutter, one of the best baseball pitches since Mariano Rivera‘s. It is likely that Melancon will come into the Nationals clubhouse to assume his familiar closing role since current Nationals closer Jonathan Papelbon has struggled so far this season.

Although this season has been a career year for Mark regarding a few statistical categories, the Pirates seemed likely to trade their All-Star closer for a considerable return given that Melancon will be a free agent following the 2016 World Series. After his former team, the New York Yankees, traded Aroldis Chapman to the highest bidder (NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs), Melancon’s stock increased making him a valuable trade asset for the Pirates.

In return, the Pirates receive Felipe Rivero, a fireball relief pitcher under team control till 2021, who was the Nats fifth round draft pick in the 2015 amateur draft.

While Mark should be proud of his role in helping turn the Pirates become a relevant franchise, he leaves a team that is sitting around .500 and joins the Nationals who are in the lead the NL East by five games. He also leaves his catcher who he mentions is such a symbiotic relationship because they rely on speaking without talking through their eyes and hand signals.

His current 1.51 ERA should help a Nationals pitching staff which already boasts the second lowest team-ERA in the MLB with an impressive 3.26 ERA. As a team that looks to have few weaknesses with the exception of a reliable closing pitcher, the Washington Nationals look as though they have addressed one of their few needs just days before August 1st trade deadline.

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Even though Wildcats fans probably never would’ve dreamed that Melancon could develop into the dominant closer that he is now, he has certainly made Arizona Baseball proud. BearDown Mark! We look forward to watching you help the Nationals get into the postseason!