BRADENTON, Fla. — With closer Tony Watson away from camp Wednesday to attend his arbitration hearing in St. Petersburg, Fla., attention turned to his bullpen deputies, right-hander Daniel Hudson and left-hander Felipe Rivero, who will be table-setters for Watson this season.
Neither Hudson, 29, nor Rivero, 25, were at Pirate City for spring training last year. At that time, Watson and Mark Melancon formed the back end of the Pirates’ shutdown bullpen. Now the closer’s role belongs to Watson. The Pirates acquired Rivero in the Melancon trade with Washington in July, and they signed Hudson to a two-year, $11 million contract to end his free agency in December.