The Pirates have signed right-handed pitcher Austin Brice to a minor league contract, according to Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports. It’s a continuation of Pittsburgh’s busy week adding depth to their pitching staff, as they claimed pitcher Adonis Medina earlier today and re-signed Chase De Jong to a minor league accord yesterday.
The 29-year-old Brice is coming off a season split between Boston’s Triple-A and big league teams, his second straight year with the Red Sox. While he made a solid impression in the minors, posting a 3.27 ERA and 34 strikeouts across 33 innings, that wasn’t the case at the Major League level. The out-of-options Brice was shuttled back and forth between Boston’s top two teams throughout the season and was left with a 6.59 ERA in just north of 13 innings for the Red Sox.
While Brice didn’t find a ton of success with Boston, he’s not far removed from a strong 2019 showing out of the Miami bullpen. Through 44 innings that season the Marlins draftee pitched to a solid 3.43 ERA, though several of his peripherals hinted that his ERA figure was a bit lucky. Furthermore, Brice has proven himself plenty adept at getting minor league hitters out, with a career 2.92 ERA at the Triple-A level that looks a lot rosier than his 5.17 ERA across six Major League seasons.
All told, it’s a low risk signing for the Pirates, as is typically the case with minor league pacts. Should Brice and his 80th percentile curveball carry his minor league success over to the big leagues Pittsburgh will have quite the nice pickup on their hands.
The Buc’s continue to rebuild into a powerhouse this offseason lol
Waiver claims and minors deals is about all that Pirates fans can expect in terms of roster additions. At least with Brice and Medina earlier it seems like there’s some potential unlike the typical 30ish year old out of options type player they usually get and try to catch lightning in a bottle.
Noone wants to hear this redundant garbage. Do yourself a favor. Please.
Nutting approves.
Nutting from Nutting leaves Nutting….
Good luck with that, Pirates.
Sincerely, a Red Sox fan.
Same old Pirates.
Same tired, predictible, worn-out comment requiring zero intelligence.
Pirates will compete in 2038.
I don’t have to be the smartest guy on this forum to tell you that won’t be the case. Keep trolling and being negative over a “rebuild”. Anyone paying attention is intrigued by what’s happening in the system. There are guys 1-3 years away and will be “the core” to put people in the seats for 3-4 years. And just like Oakland and Tampa Bay, they will move players and start fresh. Small Market clubs will never be able to spend outrageous money on players under the current collective bargain agreement. 87 million at most is what Pittsburgh, Oakland, and Tampa Bay are willing to spend on their “peak” year. After they peak over 87 million, they trade away high end contracts and/or talent with value to close a long window of losing. Oakland and Tampa usually has a rebuild done in 5 years or less. And those two organizations are the best in MLB to transition and to complete rebuilds in a timely manner. They have done it for over two decades now. If Pittsburgh can finally replicate anything close to Oakland and Tampa rebuilds, they will be ready to compete no later than 2024 or even next year. Some of you can’t get over 19 straight losing seasons and seem to be stuck on the past without any idea of what’s going on for the future. This is nothing like the two decades of no farm system or talent coming to Pittsburgh. Just grab a cold beer and take a seat! Watch what’s coming to the show the next few years. Then if it doesn’t meet expectations and winning formula, the whole Pirates nation will be in an uproar. By then, MLB could step in and do a Montreal move.
Well said I guess.
A minor league signing by a minor league franchise.
Good luck with him. He’s failed everywhere else.