A right-handed pitcher, he appeared in 23 Major League Baseball games for the Cleveland Indians during the 1957 season.

Pitula stood 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) tall, weighed 170 pounds (77 kg), and batted right-handed.

In his 23 MLB games and 59⅔ innings pitched, Pitula allowed 67 hits (including eight home runs) and 32 bases on balls, with 17 strikeouts.

He tossed one complete game, a 17–4 thrashing of the Boston Red Sox on July 14, 1957, at Cleveland Stadium.

After enduring personal difficulties, he died by suicide via carbon monoxide poisoning at the age of 34 in Hackensack.