Pirates pitcher Scott Olsen, who’s in competition with Charlie Morton and others for the Bucs’ fifth starter job, doesn’t sound happy about the possibility of being in the bullpen:
"They didn’t bring me in here to be a bullpen guy," Olsen said. "They want to do that, we are going to have to have a conversation about it, and we haven’t had one about it."
Tough luck, Scott. Ever since Olsen was signed, it has been clear that he would be competing for a starting role, not that he had already been granted one. And if he doesn’t have a starting role, then he’s a bullpen guy, and there’s not much he can do about it, because he’s signed to a major-league deal without an out clause.
If Olsen doesn’t make the rotation, that’s unfortunate for him, because due to the structure of his contract, he stands to make a ton of money if he sticks as a starter the whole year. But unless the Pirates flat-out lied to him (which seems unlikely, given that the entire city has known for some time that Olsen isn’t guaranteed a rotation job), this seems like a stupid, me-first comment.
With the recent injury to Joe Beimel, Olsen would be the only potential bullpen lefty with more than a tiny amount of major-league bullpen experience.