BRADENTON, Fla. — It was a fairly quiet morning at LECOM Park early last week — a handful of players in the clubhouse, on-field workouts still an hour or so from starting — when I approached Colin Holderman for an interview.

Always polite, always willing, Holderman stood up from his chair and proceeded to give off a different vibe, one that featured more focus and determination than I've ever seen from him — not that Holderman has ever lacked for that stuff in the past.

"Last year, we knew it wasn't the year that we wanted," Holderman said when I asked about the mix he saw out of this year's bullpen. "We understand what it really takes. We're going to prove why we were supposed to be one of the best bullpens in the league."

As spring training winds down and thoughts calibrate toward opening day in Miami on March 27, not to mention moving past back-to-back 76-win seasons, there's something here that bears repeating.

For the Pirates to take the next step as an organization, the bullpen simply has to be elite. It can't all fall on the starters' shoulders.

Holderman knows that. So does everyone on the outside.

We can talk about Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller and a deeper and more talented group of starting pitchers. It's fair. That should absolutely be a strength in 2025. But the bullpen must hold up its end of the bargain.

That didn't happen in 2024. In fact, the Pirates came nowhere close to their projection of having the third-best bullpen in baseball by MLB.com.

Their relievers had an ERA of 4.49 and walked 3.97 per nine innings, figures that ranked 27th and 25th. That group became a weakness rather than a supposed strength.

"It started off well," Holderman said. "We hit a rough patch, and a lot of it was at once. We're going to try and minimize that, come together and be as close as we can to help each other get through those times."

To Holderman's point, the Pirates had a 4.27 ERA and 3.81 walks per nine through July 30 last season. You saw what happened when the relievers faltered, especially during the 10-game losing streak.

Obviously the Pirates can't have that happen this time around.

Two-time All-Star David Bednar struggled to the tune of a 5.77 ERA, done in by spotty command with his fastball and curveball, as well as potential pitch-tipping issues.

Holderman, meanwhile, was one of the best setup men in the game for a good chunk of the season. Through 39 games, he had a 1.67 ERA and 46 strikeouts against 18 walks in 37 2/3 innings before dealing with poor performance and injuries during a five-outing implosion.

From July 28 to Aug. 7, Holderman gave up 11 runs (nine earned) and four homers in just 4 1/3 innings. He later missed time with a wrist injury before bouncing back in September.

"Two weeks kind of sucked," Holderman said. "I wasn't healthy. But looking back, I wasn't happy with it. ... I thought it could have been a special season. That's the goal this year. I'm never satisfied. I think I can be better."

He's right.

I also think Bednar could be better, although his spring results as of Saturday — 12.46 ERA in five appearances — left plenty of questions about Bednar legitimately turning a corner, including a disastrous outing Thursday against the Twins.

But if Bednar can figure it out, I do think the Pirates could have the best bullpen they've ever had in the Ben Cherington/Derek Shelton era.

Beyond those two, Tim Mayza and Caleb Ferguson are quality veteran lefties who've looked solid this spring. The same for Ryan Borucki, who's finally healthy and pitching the way many expected him to last season before a weird, lingering triceps injury.

The Pirates will need all of that to replace veteran Aroldis Chapman, who outside of some early struggles was one of the only consistent performers with that group.

Unless something changes, I expect Borucki to make the club as a non-roster invitee. And probably pitch in leverage situations. Ferguson could occupy a versatile, multi-inning role.

Kyle Nicolas has stuff every bit as nasty as Skenes and Jones. His biggest issue has been consistently throwing strikes. If he can figure that part out, he might be scary good.

Dennis Santana became an incredible story — and one for which the Pirates deserve credit — by delivering a 2.44 ERA in 39 games after they claimed him off waivers from the Yankees, walking just 11 and striking out 50 in 44 1/3 innings.

Justin Lawrence is another project who makes sense for the Pirates: excellent sweeper but needs some mechanical help, the type they've previously been able to rehab and scheme to success.

"There's more diversity in terms of the people we know are going to be on the team and then even competition," Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. "There's also just experience. The non-roster guys we've brought in have more experience and have major league experience. Some of it is significant. That causes more competition, which is good."

The Pirates will be criticized from now until the end of time when it comes to their spending habits, which I get. But I don't see this as a part of that. You should be able to build a bullpen on the cheap by making smart moves, and the previous regime did that.

Just look at where the Pirates bullpen ranked from 2011-15:

2011: 3.76 ERA (20th) ... 3.76 BB/9 (17th)

2012: 3.36 ERA (11th) ... 3.43 BB/9 (14th)

2013: 2.89 ERA (3rd) ... 2.89 BB/9 (4th)

2014: 3.28 ERA (9th) ... 3.06 BB/9 (10th)

2015: 2.67 ERA (1st) ... 2.76 BB/9 (5th)

That's elite. There's steady improvement. It's also leveraging every ounce of your active roster for good.

Now, let's consider those same numbers over the past three seasons:

2022: 4.72 ERA (29th) ... 4.08 BB/9 (27th)

2023: 4.27 ERA (19th) ... 3.72 BB/9 (19th)

2024: 4.49 ERA (27th) ... 3.97 BB/9 (25th)

That's not good enough.

Which is why, if the Pirates are going to get this right — surpass .500 and compete in a mediocre NL Central — then better performance out of the bullpen isn't optional.

Holderman said he and Bednar, the two longest-tenured members of the group, have spent much of spring talking about how to take ownership of things down there, how to create a culture and smooth out the sizable bumps experienced in 2024.

There's also an awareness around this group that the talent is there. Young guys and vets. Different arm slots and pitch mixes. Power and finesse. It's all about finding a way for it to click.

Among questions the Pirates need to answer in 2025, it's easily in my top five, maybe top three. I'm also not alone.

"We're hungry," Holderman said. "I think we needed that little kick in the butt last year.

"It's a special group. We have to follow up that starting rotation. They're amazing. We have to do our part."

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