The Pirates have acquired right-hander Daulton Jefferies from the Giants in exchange for outfielder Rodolfo Nolasco, per Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com. Jefferies had been designated for assignment by San Francisco earlier this week. The Pirates later announced the deal, transferring catcher Jason Delay to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Jefferies.
Jefferies, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Giants in the offseason and was added to their roster in the early days of the season. He has since tossed 4 2/3 innings in the majors, though he allowed nine earned runs in that time. His work in Triple-A this year has been much better, with a 3.44 earned run average in 18 1/3 innings, striking out 22.7% of batters faced while giving out walks jst 6.7% of the time.
The fact that Jefferies is even able to take the mound is a feat in itself. He underwent thoracic outlet surgery in June 2022 before requiring a Tommy John procedure that September. Having those two significant procedures in quick succession prevented him from pitching in any official capacity 2023.
Prior to that injury odyssey, he had thrown 56 1/3 innings for the Athletics over the 2020-22 seasons, with a 5.75 ERA in that time. He once had a bit of prospect hype, particularly after throwing 79 minor league innings in 2019 with a 3.42 ERA, 29.2% strikeout rate and 2.8% walk rate.
But his stock stalled out a bit from there. With the minor leagues being canceled in 2020, he was only able to toss two innings in the majors. He spent most of 2021 in Triple-A with a lackluster 4.91 ERA, then the aforementioned injuries came for him the year after.
Jefferies still has an option left, which makes him appealing as a depth starter. The Bucs have Johan Oviedo and Marco Gonzales on the injured list, the former out for the whole season. Paul Skenes is going to make his debut tomorrow, joining a rotation with Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Martín Pérez, Bailey Falter and Quinn Priester.
Perhaps Jefferies will take over for Skenes in the Triple-A rotation and try to work his way back to the majors. The Pirates could call upon him due to injury or underperformance from one of their other starters in the months to come, though Jefferies will be out of options next year. He came into 2024 with between one and two years of service time, meaning he could be retained well into the future if he continues to hold onto his roster spot.
He lost his spot on the Giants’ roster when that club promoted Mason Black, but the Giants will now get a non-roster prospect in return. The 22-year-old Nolasco is commended for his power but has concerning strikeout problems. He was punched out 34.2% of the time in Single-A last year but also drew walks at a 16% clip and hit 20 home runs. He moved up to High-A this year and is striking out at a 43.7% rate.
He’s clearly going to be a project for the Giants but one they’ll happily take for a guy that got squeezed off their roster. Baseball America ranked Nolasco the #27 prospect in the Pirates’ system last year, giving his power a 70 grade on the 20-80 scale, though noting that he’ll have trouble getting to that power if he keeps getting punched out so often.
As for Delay, he has been on the 10-day IL since early April. He underwent surgery to repair the meniscus in his right knee in the middle of April. It was reported at that time that he would need six weeks before returning to baseball activities. His 60-day clock is retroactive to his initial IL placement, so he can technically be reinstated in early June, though his rehab won’t allow for that.
Perhaps he can hit, too. He can’t be worse than most of their lineup
I wonder if Jay Bell would come out of retirement to play for them. Or Jack Wilson
At this point I would be happy with Josh Van Meter
I am joking, maybe
What is the prediction for the strikeouts of the Bucs hitters in tonight’s game?
It’s about the only thing they excel at as a team
The Altoona Curve have lost 15 games in a row and have a team batting average of .204, under the guidance of the same system as the Pirates
Apparently mediocrity is the goal of this organization
by the way, Grandal isn’t much better than Davis, either with his bat or fielding
Must be a prerequisite to be a Pirate catcher
Part of me doesn’t want Skenes to make his debut today, only scoring a few runs probably won’t be enough for a win, even if he’s dominant.
Skenes will be on a limited pitch count and our bullpen isn’t as strong as it should be to protect any lead.
Speaking of bullpens, the strategy for Pirate hitters to wear down the opposing starters in order to get into their pen early isn’t working.
In last night’s game, the Cubs bullpen struck out 8 Bucs and gave up only 3 hits in a little over 4 innings
Something has to change, strategy or approach, because whatever they’re doing isn’t working
The only thing that should matter when Skenes or Jones pitches is the idea of a quality start. Nothing more. Maybe it’s sacrilege but I’d take either over Keller right now
Jones simply needs to learn and mature. Bellinger is a big time hitter and made him pay. But as you said, this lineup is incapable of putting pressure on opposing pitchers and defenses. So one has to look beyond the need for any starter to be flawless
Agree about Grandal but we knew that going in. Taylor. Grandal. Tellez. Chapman. And again, the question is….why? A complete waste of money
I have no disagreement with your assessment, tiredolderdude, Jones and Skenes are superior over Keller and what matters is quality starts
Jones could easily be 7-0 if he had run support and that’s what I fear for Skenes
A losing record despite throwing a superb game because they failed to score more runs than the opposing teams
Why Shelton keeps putting Taylor’s name in the lineup is beyond my comprehension
Him and Joey Bart are now destined to become best friends
They can go to English class together with you.
I love english
this should put our Bucco’s over the top and be legit contenders….This franchise is a joke!
It’s been a joke since 1997 when McClatchey, after buying the franchise, said that with a new stadium, the team would be competitive within 5 years
He was only off by 12 years and after the Pennsylvania taxpayers footed the cost of the stadium
The stadium opened in 2001
This seems like one of those pick ups that the Pirates do where the pitcher all of a sudden becomes good. That stadium is just designed to give pitchers confidence.
Too bad the stadium can’t give their hitters any confidence
I go through the same thing with pitchers and Coors Field. Although this year, the pitchers have been much better than the hitters at Coors. So maybe it will flip flop for you too one of these years.
I liked Jefferies’ performance in Spring Training. He got hit hard in his outings this year, but there’s still promise there.
Bucs fans know anything about Nolasco? Anything more than a lottery ticket? Looks like his power has been trending up, but his batting average has been trending down. Probably strikes out a lot but can swing for the fences.
He hits like a sudden gust in a windy city
Scott, the entire Pirates farm system is like the big team, where position players are concerned: they can’t hit
I’m sure this guy will come to the Bay Area and now be a big HR and RBI guy. That’s the way it usually works with us
Bauer better
Shocker Giants got anything at all then I looked at nolasco – I realized then they got nothing
If this doesn’t work, maybe you can picket MLBTR’s headquarters and bar food deliveries. “No justice, no pizza!!!!” That’ll get em going
Hope you have better success with Jefferies & OF prospect doesn’t look like Pirates overpaid
A waste of a roster spot.
A+ for Pirates. Heck of a trade for them.
Dream, your grading system is turning into a study in sarcasm
Tired- Do we ever really know what Dream means?
No, but I enjoy the cryptic comments
He’s disassembling of the Pirates line up, free agent signing and farm system last week, in addition to assailing management, was A+ in itself.
I wanted to print it out and paste it to my wall
The only thing I want to paste to my wall is the article about Cherington and Shelton being fired or one about Haines being shown the door and not at the end of the season either
tired – YourDreamGM outed themself as a troll a while back. it was a decent long con, but only worth muting now, the schtick has worn thin.
Hasn’t gotten to that point here just yet, Slibb. I enjoy the banter even when I know he’s kidding about his “A+ signings”
It’s time to consider sending Suwinski to Indy, he’s really regressed from last year. It can’t hurt.
How long before Nutting becomes impatient with how poorly this offense has been?
Carlos Santana, the former Pirate first baseman and who wanted to return for this season, hit his 5th homer of the season in tonight’s game with the Twins
Instead of signing him, BC decided to save a few bucks and signed Rowdy Tellez
And Tellez has posted the kind of production any rational, half informed fan would have predicted. There really isn’t a tier below Tellez. He’s looking from the bottom of the barrel like most of us knew he would.
Those few bucks saved allowed them to sign Michael Taylor and Grandpal.
That is why it is time to dfa him and put Lamb on the active roster.Not sure what they would have to pay him but he cannot do any worse than the home run hitting Tellez.
I honestly thought that Tellez could hit 20-25 home runs this year but him and I are both 30 pounds overweight and I am not making the kind of money that he is to be a professional athlete.
and I thought Taylor would show at least some power, despite my being against signing him to begin with
He certainly excels at striking out, which is why I was not impressed when he was signed
13 strikeouts as a team in last night’s game, they make every pitcher look good, even those who aren’t as a rule
I told everyone you were go to hate that signing.
On the bright side Kiermaier cost over twice as much and the stats are the same other than K’s. And both have been extremely lucky. There batting average should be even worse.
I never wanted them to sign Taylor to begin with, and the same goes for Tellez, though I thought he might have some power potential.
Both have been monumental failures and this management doesn’t seem to care
Every good team needs a nickname.
I have one for the Pirates.
The Toothpick Company.
Why not the “slumber company”? They have been called that before.
As a Giants fan I couldn’t wait to see them DFA Jefferies! Zaidi loves signing other teams cast offs, who the hell signs a guy returning from Tommy John Surgery that hadn’t pitched since May of 2022? Farhan Zaidi does, he also traded for Robbie Ray who still hasn’t come off TJ rehab and paying him $23mil per year. The fact that he was able to get anything for Jeffereis is beyond me! If you need a spot start and don’t mind losing that game he’s your guy. He gave up 13 runs in 2 games! A triple A prospect would have been better than that and the Giants have them. Good luck!
Zaidi said he recognized his past ways of operating had to change & felt getting full-time everyday players this past offseason was right decision.
Zaidi’s quickly returning to his MO – getting DFA, recovering from injuries, Tier 3 players.
Zaidi must right the ship or be fired.