Dauri Moreta uses 'unicorn' slider to become key part of Pirates bullpen

This season, Pittsburgh Pirates reliever Dauri Moreta has emerged as one of the hot topics around baseball because of his unique slider that largely has baffled hitters.

“It’s a unicorn pitch. I have never seen one like it,” said fellow reliever Colin Holderman, who also possesses a lethal slider.

The movement of Moreta’s slider has confused not only hitters, but also pitchers — his Pirates teammates in particular — asking what the secret to his go-to pitch is.

“They say, ‘How do you throw that slider?’ I say, ‘I don’t know. I just throw it,’ ” Moreta said. “(Then) they say, ‘That’s not a slider. We need to find a new name for that pitch.’

“I grip it like a normal slider and throw it like a normal slider. I don’t know why my slider moves like that. It’s something I can’t answer right now.”

Dauri Moreta, Nasty 86mph Slider...and K Pose. pic.twitter.com/ImZfn1DQx5

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) June 3, 2023

While Moreta complements it with a four-seam fastball and changeup, he leans on the slider, which, per Statcast, he has thrown about 59% of the time through 28 appearances and 29¹⁄₃ innings.

Holderman, who, like Moreta, has been enjoying a breakout campaign in 2023, knows a thing or two about sliders.

The Pirates setup man throws his slider about a third of the time, yet the movement of Moreta’s wows him.

“Sometimes it backs up. Sometimes it goes like a normal slider,” Holderman said. “… It’s unpredictable, is what makes it so good, and also it’s just so nasty.”

A look at Moreta’s body of work this year paints him as one of the steadiest pitchers in the Pirates bullpen.

He is 3-1 with a 1.84 ERA, and his 41 strikeouts lead Pirates relievers.

In May, Moreta posted an ERA of 0.00, striking out 20 while walking three and allowing three hits over 12 appearances.

That said, neither Moreta nor his slider are totally invincible.

On Saturday, Moreta replaced starter Johan Oviedo with one out in the top of the seventh inning against the Mets.

The score was tied 1-1, with Moreta inheriting a runner at second base.

Moreta struck out Tommy Pham before intentionally walking Luis Guillorme. Then, facing Mark Canha, Moreta hung a slider that Canha blasted into the right-center field gap for a two-run double. Starling Marte scored (the run was charged to Oviedo), and the Mets went on for a 5-1 victory.

“It’s probably the only slider that Moreta’s thrown in the last month that stayed flat. It just stayed flat and stood up,” manager Derek Shelton said after the game.

For Moreta, it represented just the second inherited runner he allowed to score on the year.

But Moreta rebounded quickly, as Shelton inserted him in another high-leverage situation in the eighth inning of Sunday’s series-winning victory over New York.

With Mitch Keller having pitched seven innings of one-run baseball, Moreta was entrusted with preserving the lead in the eighth, doing so without issue.

“We just thought we had the right matchups there with Moreta,” Shelton said. “He’s been really good over the last month. I know he gave up a hit (Saturday), and like I said postgame, it was probably the only bad slider he’s thrown in a month. We felt like we had a good run of matchups there, and he did a nice job.”

Acquired from Cincinnati last fall in exchange for infielder Kevin Newman, Moreta had caught the eye of Shelton and general manager Ben Cherington, even if his numbers weren’t exactly dominant.

In 35 appearances with the Reds in 2022, Moreta was 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA, striking out 39 in 38 ⅓ innings.

Fine-tuning his delivery and becoming more accurate has allowed Moreta to come into his own.

“He’s one of our nastiest dudes out of the ‘pen,” Holderman said. “I love what he’s been doing, and I can’t wait to see what he does going forward.”