David Jeffrey Bednar (pronounced “bed-NARR”)…Wife's name is Casey...Was born and raised in the Pittsburgh area…Graduated from Mars Area High School in Mars, Pa., in 2013...Went 13-2 with 145 strikeouts in 101.1ip during his high school career...Posted a 4-2 record and a 0.95 ERA as a senior...Was named MVP as a junior and senior and was a 2012-13 All-Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and All-Section selection...Faced Brendan McKay in the first round of the high school playoffs in 2013; he struck out the first six batters he faced, and 12 in the game, only to lose a 2-0 decision as McKay tossed a one-hitter (Bednar had the only hit)...Attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pa., where he led the staff in ERA (3.92), IP (59.2ip), complete games (five) and strikeouts (70) during his junior year in 2016...His father, Andy, coached baseball at Mars Area High School for over 30 years...His high school jersey No. 24 was retired at Mars Area High School on Feb. 3, 2023...His brother, Will, pitched at Mississippi State and was selected by San Francisco in the first round of the 2021 First-Year Player Draft (14th pick overall)...Was named the Pirates’ nominee for both the 2022 and 2023 Roberto Clemente Award, given annually to honor a Major League player for performance on the field as well as charitable work in the community…As part of the award, David has donated funds to Lending Hearts, a Pittsburgh-based non-profit centered around providing emotional, social and physical support to pediatric cancer patients and their families, and Jake's Way, who helps children play sports and have appropriate equipment no matter their income or hardship...Is a big fan of both the Steelers and the Penguins and attends games regularly.
2023
Posted career highs in games, saves, innings (67.1), strikeouts and ERA (2.00) while being selected to his second straight N.L. All-Star Team (did not pitch)… Was one of three Pirates to have at least a share of the league lead in saves since it became an official statistic in 1969, joining Mark Melancon in 2015 and Dave Giusti in 1971…His 39 saves were the fifth-most all-time by a Pirate and the most since Melancon had a team record 51 in 2015 and his 92.9 pct. save percentage was the second-best in team history [min. 40 opportunities], trailing only Melancon in 2015 (96.2%; 51-for-53)… Pitched for Team USA in World Baseball Classic and was scored upon once in four appearances; earned the win on 3/18 against Venezuela…Was Pittsburgh’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award for the second consecutive year... Converted 39 of his 42 save opportunities and shared the N.L. lead with San Francisco’s Camilo Doval (Emmanuel Clase led MLB with 44)…Led all Major League pitchers with 22 saves after the All-Star break…Picked up saves in three straight team games for the first time in his career as the Pirates swept the Cardinals from 6/2-4…Became one of just seven different Pirates to record three saves in a three-game series since saves became an official statistic in 1969 (Melancon was the last from June 1-3, 2015)…Converted his 16th straight save opportunity and notched his individual career season-high 20th save on 7/26 at San Diego…Recorded five outs to earn his 21st save on “David Bednar Bobblehead Night” on 7/29 vs. Philadelphia…Struck out at least one batter in 12 straight games from 6/29 thru 8/1 (22 total)…Converted 18 straight save opportunities from 4/18 thru 8/1…Converted each of his last 16 straight save opportunities, dating back to 8/13.
2022
Was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time in his career, becoming the first Pirates player since Dick Groat (Swissvale High School in 1962) to play in the All-Star Game from the WPIAL (Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League)...Pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the Midsummer Classic at Dodger Stadium on 7/19...Was the team’s nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award...Made the Opening Day roster for the second time in his career...Made eight straight scoreless appearances to start the season (9.0ip) and struck out at least one batter in each of his first 14 games through 5/14 (25 batters total)...Was named the National League Relief Pitcher-of-the-Month for May after going 2-1 with seven saves (eight opportunities), a 1.65 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 12 appearances...Struck out two of the three Arizona batters he faced on 6/5 to earn his 10th save while making his 100th career appearance... Pitched a career-high 2 2/3 innings and recorded an eight-out save on 6/15 at St. Louis; the first Pittsburgh pitcher since Jason Christiansen on 7/22/98 to record a save of at least eight outs in a game decided by two runs or fewer...Was on the Injured List from 8/30-9/22 with low back inflammation.
2021
Led National League rookie pitchers in appearances (61) and ranked fourth in the Majors; Kansas City’s Jake Brentz was first (72)...Posted a 1.01 ERA (35.2ip/4er) in his final 33 games, dating back to 6/18; the second-lowest ERA in the N.L. among pitchers with at least 30.0ip in that time (New York’s Aaron Loup was the lowest at 0.47)...His 2.23 ERA was the 10th-lowest for a Pirates rookie pitcher (min: 60.0ip) all-time...Was voted the recipient of the Steve Blass Award; named annually since 2012 by the local chapter of the BBWAA as the Pirates' top pitcher...Stranded 19 of his 21 inherited runners; the sixth-lowest rate in the N.L. (min: 12 inherited runners)...Made the Opening Day roster after posting a 0.00 ERA and a team-high 18 strikeouts in 10 appearances during spring training (8.2ip)...Made season debut on 4/1 at Chicago (NL) and struck out two of the three batters he faced...Gave up two solo home runs in 1.0ip on 4/7 at Cincinnati; was charged with two earned runs over his next 14 games (12.1ip) thru 5/14...Made nine straight scoreless appearances (7.2ip) from 4/8 thru 5/3...Suffered his first blown save and loss of the year on 6/13 at Milwaukee (1.0ip/2r)...Retired all six batters he faced while earning his third win on 8/3 at Milwaukee; also struck out in his only plate appearance of the season...Picked up his first Major League save on 8/21 at St. Louis - his first professional save since 8/25/19 while pitching with Amarillo...Tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning while earning his first save at PNC Park on 8/23 vs. Arizona... Made 10 straight scoreless appearances from 7/2-28 (10.0ip) and 12 straight scoreless outings from 8/15 thru 9/28 (13.1ip)...Was placed on the 10-day injured list on 9/11 (right oblique strain)...Was reinstated on 9/26...Posted a 1.69 ERA (32.0ip/6er) and a .177 batting average against in 34 games at PNC Park...Pitched more than 1.0 inning seven times, including a season-high 2.0ip on four occasions.
2020
Began shortened season with San Diego...Made two appearances (2.1ip/2r/1er) before being optioned to the alternate training site on 8/3...Was recalled on 8/15 and pitched a career-high 2.0 innings (2r) that night at Arizona...Returned to alternate site on 8/16...Was recalled on 8/27 as the 29th roster player for scheduled doubleheader that day vs. Seattle; gave up two runs in 2.0ip in game two in his final appearance.
2019
Spent the majority of the campaign with Amarillo (AA), where he posted a 2-5 record with a 2.95 ERA, 86 SO and a .226 opponent AVG in 44 appearances...Named a Texas League Mid-Season All-Star for AMA after posting a 3.82 ERA and converting 4 of his 5 SVO prior to the All-Star break…went on to convert each of his 10 SVO with a 1.98 ERA in the 2nd half...From June 1 until the time of his call-up, he recorded a 2.17 ERA in 28 appearances with 54 SO against just 5 BB, with the Sod Poodles going 21-7 in games in which he appeared...Converted 4 consecutive SVO from July 30-August 7 with 0 hits and 0 runs allowed in that time...In August, the final month of his minor league campaign, he went 1-0 with a 0.68 ERA (1 ER, 13.1 IP) and a .133 opponent AVG across 11 outings...Made his ML debut on Sept. 1 at SF, tossing a perfect inning to finish the game in the Padres' 8-4 win...Went on to toss 5.2-scoreless innings in his first 7 appearances to begin his ML career…allowed just 1 hit, 1 BB, 9 SO with a .056 opponent AVG and a 14.29 SO/9 rate through his first 7 appearances...Snapped his scoreless-innings streak on Sept. 15 at COL after giving up a 3-run HR to John Fuentes.
2018
Spent the season with Lake Elsinore (A), owning a 2.73 ERA (21 ER, 69.1 IP) and tying for second on the club in appearances (47)...Set career highs with 10 saves, 47 appearances and 96 strikeouts...His 2.73 ERA ranked fourth in the California League among relievers (min. 40 appearances)...Was the only hurler for LE to make more than 35 appearances and own a sub-3.00 ERA...His 21 games finished ranked second on the club behind Dauris Valdez's 27, and his 12.5 SO/9 IP ranked sixth.
2017
Split the season between Fort Wayne (A) and Lake Elsinore (A), going 1-4 with a 2.64 ERA (18 ER, 61.1 IP)...Appeared in 24 games for FW (all in relief), owning a 1.87 ERA (7 ER, 33.2 IP), 0.86 WHIP and .154 opponent AVG...Combined for 11 saves (9 with FW and 2 with LE), converting 11 of 13 SVO...Posted 13.4 SO/9 IP with his 81 strikeouts in 61.1 innings of work.
