With the trade deadline taking place tomorrow, some changes are expected to be made to the starting rotation in Pittsburgh.

Lefty pending free agent Andrew Heaney is expected to be dealt within the following hours, and longtime Pirate right-hander Mitch Keller’s name is still headlining trade rumors.

But regardless of the return the Pirates might get for those two, or any other trade in the next two days, the team might soon be getting an extra arm that they have missed for a long time.

Down in Indianapolis, Johan Oviedo just checked off another box in his rehab assignment, pitching in his first Triple-A start of the season last night and making a statement performance.

The righty went five strong innings against the Iowa Cubs, holding them to two hits and one earned run, while striking out five and issuing no walks. His strong work on the mound helped lead the Indians to a 5-3 win, putting them at 20-8 during the International League’s second half and 62-40 on the year.

Oviedo didn’t get a decision, but his 2023 Bucco teammate Dauri Moreta picked up the win. Colin Holderman earned a hold, and Cam Sanders earned his second Triple-A save of the year.

The only earned run that was scored against Oviedo came in the second inning, when Iowa first baseman Jonathon Long hit his 16th home run of the season, 412 feet into left field.

But Oviedo would allow only a single after that, and struck out a batter each inning during his final three frames of work.

Oviedo threw 62 pitches in the game, one shy of just one shy of his final start in Altoona back on Thursday. His five strikeouts overall matched his season-high, set twice during two separate rehab starts.

Tuesday night was his best appearance during his lengthy rehab start, which has spanned almost two months.

Oviedo officially kicked off his rehab back on June 30th, debuting in the rookie Florida Complex League for the FCL Pirates. It wasn’t a good start to the season for the righty, who plunked a batter and was lit up for three hits, including a stolen base against during the start.

He was unable to make it out of the inning, only securing two outs and throwing 24 pitches before he was taken out. He was later charged with the loss.

Despite the discouraging return to the mound, the Pirates bumped him up to Low-A Bradenton, giving him another appearance on July 5th against Fort Myers. Again, he failed to make it through a full inning, only getting two outs.

Both outs were strikeouts, but he also walked a pair before he was taken out at 24 pitches again. However, no runs were held against him after he exited.

Six days later, on the 11th, the organization gave Oviedo a much bigger runway. He hurled 50 pitches against St. Lucie, going 2.2 innings and holding the Mets to two hits and one earned run. He walked two and struck out five and was unfortunately credited with another loss, but it was much better than his first Bradenton start.

A week later, Oviedo was shifted to Double-A Altoona, where he made another two starts. Starting against Akron on the 18th, Oviedo threw 53 pitches and went 3.1 innings, holding the RubberDucks to three hits and one earned run, with a trio of strikeouts.

His second Curve start on the 24th saw him earn his first win of the season. Oviedo made it five innings on 63 pitches against Chesapeake, limiting them to four hits and one earned run, with five punchouts and no walks.

Now in Indianapolis, it’s only a matter of days before he is finally back in Pittsburgh. Oviedo hasn’t made a major league appearance since September 27th, 2023. The Pirates relied heavily on Oviedo down the stretch that season, as injuries mounted in their rotation and half of the group was cobbled together with minute men.

Oviedo threw 177.2 innings for the Pirates in 2023, nearly tripling his career high. He pitched to a 4.31 ERA, 1.373 WHIP, and 1.90 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He had a bit of a rollercoaster of a season, leading the league in plunked batters but also being one of ten major league pitchers to throw a complete game shutout, doing so on August 28th.

He missed all of 2024 after having to undergo Tommy John surgery, and his road back to the mound was delayed after dealing with a lat issue at the start of the season.

There are some options for how the Pirates could deploy Oviedo once he’s back in the bigs. The simplest one, of course, is for him to take Heaney’s old spot ion the rotation.

However, if pitch count is a factor, the Pirates could ease the Cuban back in by pitching him out of the bullpen, using him as a long reliever until they are comfortable handing him a starter’s workload again.

Smaller starts are also an option. Having Oviedo start and someone like Braxton Ashcraft piggyback off of him could allow both of them to build their arms up against MLB-caliber hitting.

The Pirates have used Ashcraft as a long reliever several times this season; the right-hander has pitched more than an inning in well over half of his appearances, and tossed three innings in Pittsburgh’s Tuesday night win in San Francisco.