Carmen Mlodzinski: Everything you need to know

Mlodzinski (1-0) earned the win Wednesday against the Nationals, allowing no runs on two hits and two walks in six innings. He struck out five. Working in long relief behind opener Mason Montgomery, Mlodzinski delivered six sterling frames for the Pirates on Wednesday. It was easily the best outing of the year so far for the right-hander, who set a season high in innings and gave up a season-low two hits. Mlodzinski has a 1.77 ERA, 1.33 WHIP and 20:8 K:BB over his first 20.1 innings (three starts), and it remains to be seen how Pittsburgh will opt to deploy him in his next scheduled appearance versus Texas.

Mlodzinski is expected to cover the bulk of the innings in relief behind opening pitcher Mason Montgomery in Wednesday's game against the Nationals, Danny Demilio of PittsburghBaseballNow.com reports. Despite pitching to a 2.51 ERA over his first three starts, Mlodzinski is still in search of his first win after working fewer than five innings his first two times out and taking a no-decision in his most recent outing. With Montgomery handling the first frame or two of Wednesday's contest, Mlodzinski should have improved odds of coming away with a win while serving as the Bucs' primary pitcher out of the bullpen.

Mlodzinski didn't factor into the decision during Friday's 2-0 win over the Cubs, allowing six hits and three walks over 5.1 scoreless innings. He struck out two. The 27-year-old right-hander wasn't particularly efficient, throwing 48 of 81 pitches for strikes, but he got locked in a 0-0 pitchers' duel with Shota Imanaga until exiting the mound in the sixth inning. Mlodzinski is still looking for his first win of 2026, but he'll take a 2.51 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and 15:6 K:BB through 14.1 innings into his next start, which lines up to come at home next week against the Nationals.