The Pirates released outfielder Matt Gorski, per the MLB.com transaction tracker. Pittsburgh designated him for assignment last week to open a 40-man roster spot for reliever Yohan Ramírez.
Gorski has been on the Triple-A injured list since late May. Injured players cannot be placed on outright waivers. Once Pittsburgh designated him for assignment, a release was essentially inevitable. Assuming Gorski clears release waivers, the Bucs could try to bring him back on a minor league contract. He’ll have the right to pursue other opportunities as a free agent though.
The righty-hitting Gorski is a former second-round pick. He has power and speed but has had issues making consistent contact throughout his minor league career. The Indiana product got out to a hot start this year with Triple-A Indianapolis. Pittsburgh called him up in late April.
Gorski blasted a 434-foot home run off Tyler Anderson in his first major league at-bat. He recorded two homers and a triple in 15 games, but he also struck out 16 times while drawing just one walk. Pittsburgh optioned him back to Triple-A on May 17; he suffered the undisclosed injury a week later. He has hit .195 in 41 major league at-bats and is a career .254/.313/.509 hitter in parts of four Triple-A seasons.
Someone else will fix him & we’ll see him in next year’s Home Run Derby.
The Pirates just won’t give these guys chances! What have they got to lose? The guys on the Major League roster aren’t hitting either!
Yeah, just look at all those ex pirate hitters tearing it up!!
There’s, uh, Kevin Newman, and, uh, Elias diaz and, uh….
What happened to Matt Hague, the supposed hitting savant that everyone heralded who was supposed to be the savior for Pirates hitting?
As someone who has watched Gorski for a long while (since he was in Altoona), it’s pretty evident the guy doesn’t have much chance to be a viable MLB player. His ceiling is a guy who might be able to fill in on the MLB roster during an emergency and maybe pop a HR or two, strike out a ton, and be somewhat competent in the field. (Which is exactly how he made it to the majors in the first place.)
Gorski will be 28 in December. How long do you need to give a guy to make adjustments and not strike out nearly 30% of the time against minor league pitching, where 3 out of every 4 guys won’t ever get a whiff of an MLB roster? Somehow someone is going to figure him out? Even if they did, he might have 3, maybe 4 years of prime ability left in him.
Both Gorski and the Pirates are better off parting ways. The Pirates need to move on to provide opportunities for younger players, while Gorski still has a chance to latch on elsewhere (perhaps overseas) and have a few more years to chase the dream.