Brent Honeywell Jr. is a very interesting name in baseball. Not just because he shares a last name with a fan company, which performs the same job he aims to do whenever he is on the mound (fan his opponents), but because of his career story.

Tormented by arm injuries in development days, Honeywell essentially had four years of his development stolen from him thanks to numerous surgeries and recovery times.

Finally, after 1,298 days and four arm surgeries between professional appearances, Honeywell made his MLB debut early in the 2021 season.

Ever since then, it’s been up and down for the righty who boasts a screwball.

Honeywell only pitched 4.1 major league innings in 2021, and it took him a full two years to get back to the big leagues. That work ended up with him splitting time between the San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox.

Of his 52.1 innings last year, 46.2 came with the Padres, where he tallied a 2-4 record with a 4.05 ERA and 1.371 WHIP.

Having been claimed by the White Sox in late August, Honeywell didn’t stick with the team after the season. Instead, he signed a minor league contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization on February 12th.

He was invited to spring training as a non-roster invitee, but failed to make the team out of Florida and was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Honeywell remained there even as several players in similar positions to him opted for free agency midway through the minor league season.

In 39.0 innings for the Indianapolis Indians, Honeywell posted a 1-3 record with a 4.85 ERA and a 1.359 WHIP. He was Indy’s closer coming out of the bullpen, finishing the game in 26 of his 31 appearances.

His numbers weren’t together all that impressive for minor league play, but Honeywell’s supposed arsenal was definitely enough to always have teams interested.

In Honeywell’s own words, he has anywhere from 13 to 15 pitchers in his arsenal. At least, that’s what he told reporters in media availability shortly after the Pirates called him up.

Honeywell also has a rare screwball that he learned from his dad’s cousin, Mike Marshall, a highly touted screwball pitcher in his playing days.

Honeywell got the call on July 7th, being promoted to Pittsburgh in a flurry of moves. Bailey Falter was placed on the 15-day Injured List, and because Honeywell was not on the 40-man roster at the time, the Pirates designated Justin Bruihl for assignment in a corresponding move.

He was tasked with having very little time to make a good enough impression to stick around. The injured David Bednar was nearing a return and, at the time, it appeared that Ryan Borucki was very close to returning to the bullpen as well.

In addition to that, Marco Gonzales was also nearing a return.

In all, Honeywell’s Pirates tenure lasted just five days. He made his debut in black and yellow on July 8th, pitching a scoreless frame in the ninth in a blowout win against the New York Mets.

Two days later, on the other end of a blowout game, the Pirates called upon him with a pair of outs in the fifth inning. He went 2.1 innings in that game, but he wasn’t super crisp. He gave up a pair of hits and walks and was dinged for an earned run in what eventually was an 8-0 loss for the Pirates.

And that was all she wrote.

Marco Gonzales was ready to return, and the man who had just been promoted to the majors had found himself the odd man out. On July 12, the Pirates activated Gonzales and had him take Honeywell’s roster spot. Honeywell was designated for assignment, but he would never make it back to Indianapolis.

He was claimed the next day off waivers by the Los Angeles Dodgers, who continue their mission to stock their bullpen of ex-Pirate arms.

The Dodgers utilized him rather quickly; a day after being claimed, Honeywell made his Los Angeles debut, pitching 3.0 scoreless innings for the Dodgers and only allowing a single hit.

And luckily for the Dodgers, that’s been the way he continues to pitch for them now. In 12.2 innings for LA, Honeywell has allowed just 9 hits, striking out 9 and walking 2 with an ERA of 0.71 and opponents batting .220 against him.

His only earned run came in his most recent Dodgers appearance, back on July 31st, when Honeywell gave up 5 hits in 3.0 innings and eventually one caught up to him.

Meanwhile, the Pirates are suffering from some struggling relievers as of late. Colin Holderman has blown game after game in high pressure situations, and Dennis Santana, fresh off an impressive July, has faltered back to his old ways.

Honeywell wouldn’t have been the golden ticket to an issue that has put the Pirates in a very precarious situation, now 3.5 games out of the wild card having dropped their second series in as many weeks to Arizona. However, with the way he’s looked in the major leagues this season, he certainly would be rather useful for this team right now.

The Dodgers have used him in a more long-ish reliever type role; half of his 8 appearances with the club have seen him go 2.0 or more innings.

Having a steady arm like that could have alleviated some of the situations that the Pirates have found themselves in. Instead, he’s now doing that work for the Dodgers.

Marco Gonzales hasn’t been great since his return (5.25 ERA in 12.0 innings over 3 starts), but this isn’t really about Gonzales staying over him. The Pirates needed another starter-level arm to fill out the back end of their rotation. They especially need it now that Martín Pérez is gone.

It’s more about just a missed opportunities for the Pirates. Honeywell is appearing to be a diamond in the rough, at least for this season. The Pirates needed all the help they could get, and it appears as though some of that slipped right through their fingers.

It’s one of those things about the Pirates this season, and maybe for Honeywell’s career, that we will wonder about. How would things have gone, for both sides, if he had more time in Pittsburgh?

He really did have the unfortunate luck of injured arms just about ready to come back. Even if just one of Bednar or Gonzales was ready to return, the Pirates could have optioned Ryder Ryan, who they have had no problem shuttling back and forth between Triple-A and the bugs, and gotten a better look at Honeywell.

They also could have DFA’d someone else to get a longer look at Honeywell. Josh Fleming and Dennis Santana would have been contenders at the time. Fleming (who has been DFA’d twice by this team) was DFA’d just a few weeks after and opted for free agency, and Santana had only strung together a few innings of scoreless work by that point.

Of course, this could all change. Honeywell could crater and find himself on the outs in LA, where there is far more of an expectation to win.

Likewise, guys like Holderman, Santana, and others could get back in track and put concerns over the bullpen to rest.

But what do you think? Did the Pirates make a mistake letting Brent Honeywell go? Did they cut him loose too early? I’d love to hear what you think.

(Featured photo by Duane Burleson/Getty Images)