New Pirates’ RHP Ron Marinaccio About to Learn ‘Yinzer’

New Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Ron Marinaccio doesn’t know what a “yinzer” is.

He’s learned a little about Pittsburgh thanks to Mason Miller, the San Diego Padres’ relief ace who hails from Bethel Park.

But his knowledge is limited, and this weekend, he’s going to get familiar.

“He joked about it a little bit,” Marinaccio told reporters at PNC Park Friday, “but I don’t completely get it.”

He’s about to learn.

Marinaccio’s arrival coincides with “YinzerPalooza” weekend, which the Pirates are holding during their three-game weekend series with the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park.

The Padres designated Marinaccio for assignment Sunday, July 19, and the Pirates picked him up four days later in exchange for international signing bonus pool considerations in hopes that he’ll improve what has unquestionably been the team’s Achilles heel.

Pittsburgh’s bullpen ranks 23rd in the league in ERA and has blown 16 saves, which is tied for the third most in baseball.

2026 hasn’t been easy for the Pirates bullpen, and hasn’t been easy for Marinaccio, either.

After three solid seasons with the New York Yankees in which his ERA never hit 4, Marinaccio came to the Padres in January 2025.

He spent most of the season in AAA, and in seven big league appearances, he gave up just one run for a 0.84 ERA.

This year in San Diego didn’t go as well.

Marinaccio pitched in 47 innings over 33 games for the Padres, putting up a 4.79 ERA and 5.32 Fielding Independent Pitching.

Despite this, the Pirates liked Marinaccio enough to get him, and for manager Don Kelly, his versatility in the ‘pen could be a big asset.

“A bunch of different (roles),” Kelly told reporters Friday afternoon before the series opener against Chicago. “I mean, he’s been a guy that can go multiple (innings), been up over fifty pitches in a game and (we) like adding his repertoire to the pen.”

Indeed, Marinaccio has pitched in multiple innings a few times this year, with nine of his appearances being two innings or more.

Marinaccio has also eclipsed 50 pitches twice and eclipsed 40 pitches six times.

Kelly also mentioned Marinaccio’s “repertoire,” which the pitcher described.

“The fastball-changeup has always been the bread and butter for me,” he said. “Trying to incorporate more sweepers, cutters and make that more of an option to both sides of the dish… When I’m at my best, going well, it’s fastball-changeup.”

Per Baseball Savant, Marinaccio’s fastball is usually in the mid-90s, occasionally touching the upper 90s. His changeup averages between 81-82 MPH, giving him roughly a 10 MPH dropoff, which is above average.

Marinaccio’s ability to go multiple innings could be huge for the Pirates as they’re beginning a stretch in which they’re playing 17 straight games.

“We’ve talked a lot about it through this stretch that we’ve been in against good teams, and we’ve got a big stretch coming up with seventeen in a row,” Kelly said. “Just need to talk a lot about taking it day by day too, and being cliched in that. But I think that the team has shown up and really done a really good job of showing up every day and competing, you know, through some tough teams and through some adversity. We’re going to see how we’ll see how everything goes.”

“These guys have been playing good ball this year,” Marinaccio said, “so I just want to complement that any way I can and help continue to win some games. 

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