The Pirates have signed infielder Domingo Leyba to a minor league contract, tweets John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com. Leyba is already with the club at their spring training facility.
Leyba, 27, has appeared in parts of two big league seasons but tallied only 126 plate appearances, during which time he’s posted an unsightly .152/.238/.223 batting line. While that’s certainly not the most appealing line (to put it mildly), it’s a relatively small sample of plate appearances that has built up over sporadic playing time between the D-backs and Orioles. The switch-hitter has spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A, where he’s a career .296/.342/.525 hitter in 755 trips to the plate.
Defensively, Leyba has logged substantial time at both shortstop (3615 innings) and second base (3247 innings) in his professional career. He’s also spent more than 700 innings at the hot corner and made brief appearances at first base and in left field. He’s not a burner on the basepaths by any means, but he did swipe a dozen bags in the minors with the Padres last season while only being thrown out one time.
Leyba was once a fairly well-regarded prospect, ranking as the No. 3 prospect in the Diamondbacks’ system back in 2017, per Baseball America. He’s obviously yet to pan out as hoped, but he’s still just 27 years of age and has a solid track record in the upper minors. It’s little more than a depth signing for the Pirates, who have Ke’Bryan Hayes at third base, Oneil Cruz at shortstop and will hope for one of Rodolfo Castro, Ji Hwan Bae or prospect Nick Gonzales to eventually seize second base this season. Leyba can provide some insurance at all three spots, and given his Triple-A track record and defensive versatility, he could eventually pop up on the Pirates’ bench later this season.
I’d rather see the kids get the ABs if necessary than Leyba. Kinda know what he is, need to figure out what others can do
During the Rule 5 draft the Bucs lost 11 players and only took 4. There was at least one slot available which is why they signed this scrub
I get that Cherington is forever trying to beef up the minor leagues in an effort to emulate Tampa Bay. Good for him
But at what point do they finally say yes, we are loaded with infielders and have enough guys who can’t hit?
When the infield on the MLB team is set. As of now nobody knows who has the second base job and it’s highly debatable that Cruz stays at shortstop. Until then keep trying but I agree and admit that Leyba isn’t really an answer, just depth.
Yeah, that’s likely it, Jimmy
I keep looking to see if all that “off-season work” Cruz has put in has paid off in these spring training games.
That routine play where he threw the ball almost into the Pirates dugout yesterday screamed volumes. Led to a run. Of course
pick up stuff throw it at the wall and see what sticks.
Pirates middle infield is pretty crowded right now though. unless he really starts getting some great swings in he may not be with the team long.
Not intended to be with team at all. Taking a flier to fill aaa and be emergency depth until someone from aa kicks him out.
between Nick, Liover,Ji Hwan will might push him out before end of spring, assuming bae isn’t on the mlb team out of spring.
Don’t know if anyone else is watching spring training games but the hitting is still stagnant with this bunch
Look, I get it—it’s spring training. Pitchers are *generally* a bit ahead right now, but they got 1-hit yesterday, in the 9th, and had 4 hits today
Plate discipline is still a concern and they take some terrible swings
Did I mention that it’s only spring?
Don’t know that anyone has jumped out in the middle infield yet
People keep saying Cruz may not last there but really, there’s been no phenom showing he’s head and shoulders above him yet
I’m tramping on this thread, but having never seen Swaggerty or Gonzalez much, well, nice to see them hit bombs
Hope these guys refine things over the next month. Hoping they’ll be improved—a lot of athleticism—but hope they’re learning, too
I heard they look bad but no spring training for me. Tuff to watch regular season. Wake me up for the October Madness Tournament. NY Phi Atl LA SD Stl. Or am I wrong and should watch 162 games. Maybe Mil fans should pay attention. Other than that your team is playing for draft lottery odds.
Bats should be fine if fine is a bunch of 700 ops guys and Reynolds and Cruz. No hope for Hedges. Every year someone hits 400 500 600 and struggles to stay above .200 in regular season. So being amazing doesn’t mean anything. I guess being awful isn’t good but most of them should turn it around by end of month.
I keep telling myself it’s early
But to add on:
Choi looks lost up there
Cruz still looks to me like a high home run/ low average guy to me
No idea what they see in Joe
No adjustments to Hayes’ swing. I’m still trying to figure out what those who said he’s a 20-25 homer guy saw
Cutch, Santana are uh…older
Swaggerty’s throw from center to mail a tag up at the plate was something we haven’t seen from Pirates outfielders in a while. Who knew?
Pitching has been a mixed bag. Brubaker still loves the middle, Keller still is inconsistent but some of the younger pitchers have been impressive in short work
And this Nunez from Cubs? Big guy, big swing. Lots of upside
Last, this middle infield logjam hasn’t shown much. Actually think Gonzalez has looked best at plate
I agree, Dream. Should turn it around by end of month. Early take, but hard to see these guys winning more than 70 or 72
*Nunez from Cuba
@corn 70 sounds bout right. Much less than that someone needs to be fired. Much more someone needs extension. Nunez from cards quintana trade. Power is his main thing so good it looks to be there. Everything should work out. Just look at past spring trainings for hope. Newman had a 600 or 700 batting average one year. I think Tucker hit 300. Osuna had some elite springs. I don’t recall the awfuls but I am sure some good hitters had some.
Mitch Keller inconsistent, one outing in spring training and you say inconsistent.proves my point in dumb comments
Have you been watching, Booooba, or is it just your usual penchant for spreading hateful bile in your replies
Two outings
First was better
Given Keller’s collective history, one would say this is his career story
His second half of 2022 has some, apparently like you, believing he’ll be going for the Cy Young this year
The only thing “stupid” here is your continued prepubescent rants
Go out and walk the dog.
Confine your comments to the poop bag. They’re about as noteworthy
@corn not yet. I’m going to pick up mlb.tv this weekend. the blackouts changed a bit for me so now i’m not blacked out by Cleveland, New York and Pittsburgh.lol Baseball is baseball, i much rather watch the Pirates but i’ll take any team even if I’m passively watching,
kinda off topic but I love going to Indy and little league games. Generally they’re just out there to have fun, but once in a while you’ll see a more notable talent that was drafted and didn’t sign or something along those lines. It is a lot of fun. been hard since 2020 but things seem to be mostly back to normal now.
Normally, I’d feel the same way that you and Dream do, Joe. I have been thinking there should be a great deal of competition for a roster spot among the younger guys and that should make it a bit different this year
And since we’ve been hearing about some of the younger guys also working on things in the off season, I figured it’d be interesting to see changes
Early so far, of course, but don’t see a great deal of difference from the tail end of last season
Have to confess that I’m like you about the game itself. Nice to forget the salaries and watch the kids play
Minor league contract….realize WHAT THAT MEANS…MINOR LEAGUE…I SERIOUSLY Doubt HE WILL EVER PLAY FOR THE PIRATES..read and think before you post dumb comments
Sorry Boooba, Steve already talked about “depth signing” in the article. That was never the issue. Maybe you should actually read the comments of fans here before you embarrass yourself with your boorish behavior yet again.
As Dream would no doubt agree, middle infield is loaded all the way down to AA, depending on where last year’s first round pick ends up
Guess that’s why adding a guy who fits that description and hits around the Mendoza Line is somewhat of a mystery
That’s why it’s being discussed on a baseball forum
Have another beer. You’ll be falling asleep on the couch soon
Tired old dude
really bubba? you pretty much said what i did only in a jerky way. put your keyboard down and take a breath. geez.
La Bamba?
“Leyba, you’ve got me on my knees,
Leyba, I beg you darling, please,
Leyba, darling won’t you ease my worries mind…”
*worried?
Thanks, I knew but it was a typo.
Good thing he got signed before Leyba day.
Or before his wife went into Leyba.