Veteran right-hander Kirby Yates announced his retirement this afternoon following the Pirates’ 4-3 loss to the Tigers in Detroit. In a game featuring Justin VerlanderIn the Tigers’ last career start, the Pirates opted for a bullpen game and the manager Don Kelly gave Yates the nod as opener. It was the first “start” of his big league career after 517 appearances as a reliever. Yates recorded five outs, including a strikeout of Dillon Dinglerbefore being lifted to Yohan Ramirez.
“It was good, but that was all…“, Yates told reporters after the game (link via SportsNet Pittsburgh).”I have nothing left. Let’s put it this way. I’ve been running on fumes for a while now. I think it’s just time. It felt like it was time for a while now. I think I gave this game everything I had, and in return it gave me more than I could ever thank or imagine.»
Yates signed with the Rays in 2009 as an undrafted free agent. He reached the Majors in 2014 at the age of 27 and put up a decent 3.75 ERA in 36 innings, working with a low-90s fastball and low-80s slider to strike out 26.9% of opponents. Yates struggled to a 6.13 ERA over the next two years with the Rays and Yankees, but found some sort of rhythm with the Padres in 2017. In 61 appearances for the Friars, the right-hander struck out a dominant 38.5% of opponents against a walk rate of 8.4% and an ERA of 3.72. Around this time, Yates began to move away from his slider in favor of a mid-80s splitter, which would later become his signature.
The 2018-19 seasons saw Yates at his best. He’s pitched 123 2/3 innings during that stretch with a 38.7% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate and 45.2% ground ball rate, while holding opponents to 1.67 earned runs per nine. Yates’ 32.7% K-BB rate ranked third among qualified relievers during that stretch. He also had 53 saves, including 41 during an utterly dominant 2019 season that saw Yates post a 1.19 ERA, appear in the first of two career All-Star Games and even earn no Cy Young votes. FanGraphs rated him at 5.2 wins above replacement in 2018-19, the highest among qualified relievers.
Yates’ tenure with the Padres ended on a negative note, as bone chips in his pitching elbow limited him to six appearances during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. He signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jays for 2021, but he blew out his elbow in spring training and underwent his second Tommy John surgery (the first while he was in college). He missed all of 2021 and most of 2022 while recovering from that procedure.
Yates returned to a big league mound in August 2022 with the Braves and made nine appearances the rest of the way. He followed that with a decent, but not great, 2023 season. Yates struck out more than 30 percent of opponents and dominated 60 innings for the third time in his career, but his 14.6 percent walk rate was a career high over a full season, leading to a 3.28 ERA but a less impressive expected number of 4.49.
He returned to form in 2024 as Rangers closed in. In 61 appearances that year, Yates, now 37, held opponents to a 1.17 ERA while recording a 35.9% strikeout rate and 33 saves in 34 opportunities. The steps were still high but much more manageable, and Yates ultimately earned his second All-Star nomination for his efforts. He struggled with the Dodgers in 2025, but performed well with the Angels earlier this year. The Pirates picked him up at the trade deadline and Yates rewarded them with 15 innings of 1.80 ERA ball, including his work today.
In total, Yates has pitched 495 career innings with a 3.35 ERA, 32.7% strikeout rate and 101 saves. He combined for 7.0 fWAR and 8.9 bWAR over parts of 12 big league seasons and collected $48.5 million in total revenue according to Baseball Reference. We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Yates on his great career and wish him the best for the future.
Photos courtesy of Brian Bradshaw Sevald, Imagn Images and Charles LeClaire, USA TODAY Sports
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