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Pirates Place Keone Kela On Injured List

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The Pirates have placed reliever Keone Kela on the 10-day injured list, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic tweets. The team’s unable to disclose the reason for his IL placement.

Kela hasn’t participated in Summer Camp, and it’s not known how much more time the right-hander will miss. If he does pitch this year, though, he should once again be one of the Pirates’ go-to late-game options.

Kela has quietly been among the game’s most effective relievers for most of his career, which began in Texas in 2015, having regularly run up high strikeout totals and impressive run prevention numbers. Last year, his first full season in Pittsburgh, was more of the same from a production standpoint. A shoulder injury and two suspensions limited Kela to just 29 2/3 innings, though he did post a 2.12 ERA/3.52 FIP with 10.01 K/9 and 3.34 BB/9 in that span.

The 27-year-old Kela isn’t the only notable Pirate who has been absent from camp. Outfielder Gregory Polanco has been out for an undisclosed reason since Monday. Meanwhile, standout third base prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes hasn’t practiced at all. The Pirates haven’t provided details on his status.

Pirates To Add Nick Gonzalez, Liover Peguero To 60-Man Player Pool

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3:39pm: The Pirates also plan to add shortstop prospect Liover Peguero to their player pool, general manager Ben Cherington told Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and other reporters. The 19-year-old Peguero was part of Pittsburgh’s return from Arizona for outfielder Starling Marte in the teams’ offseason trade.

12:01pm: The Pirates are bringing recent top draft pick Nick Gonzales to the club’s auxiliary Summer Camp at Altoona, Adam Young of FOX Sports reports on Twitter. He’ll be formally added to the 60-man player pool once he clears coronavirus testing.

Gonzales just signed on with the Bucs after being taken with the seventh overall pick of the recent amateur draft. The New Mexico State second baseman is a highly polished collegiate hitter.

The 21-year-old’s overall track record is impressive as it is, but Gonzales’s shortened 2020 season was flat out ridiculous. In 82 plate appearances, he launched a dozen home runs and drew 21 walks, producing an outlandish .448/.610/1.155 slash line.

There’s every reason to think that Gonzales will be a rather quick mover up the ladder of the Pirates farm system … once he gets a place to start, at least. By gaining exposure now to MLB and near-MLB pitching, he’ll have a chance to earn a rather lofty affiliate placement next spring.

Socrates Brito Returns To Pirates Camp

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  • Pirates outfielder Sócrates Brito has returned to Summer Camp, tweets Adam Berry of MLB.com. The 27-year-old had tested positive for COVID-19, but fortunately is asymptomatic and has twice tested negative for the virus, per MLB protocols. The out-of-options Brito was once a well-regarded prospect in the Diamondbacks’ system, but he’s not found any MLB success in parts of four seasons. All told, Brito has a career .179/.216/.309 (33 wRC+) line in 218 plate appearances at the game’s highest level. The speedster has been much better in Triple-A, with a .297/.345/.491 slash in over 1500 plate appearances.
  • Pirates first-year pitching coach Oscar Marin brings a newfound fluency in pitch data and biomechanics to the position, players tell Berry. As Steve Adams of MLBTR explored in March, the previous coaching staff- predominantly manager Clint Hurdle and pitching coach Ray Searage- advocated a sinker-heavy diet for most players, even if their pitch movement data suggested a north-south, four-seam heavy approach could’ve been more effective. (Steve’s optimism that Chris Archer, in particular, could rebound with such an approach was dashed by the subsequent revelation that Archer would need surgery due to thoracic outlet syndrome, but the general point remains). While the Hurdle-Searage staff wasn’t entirely averse to data, reliever Nick Burdi tells Berry the club is “starting to utilize (analytical information) a bit more,” under Marin and new manager Derek Shelton.

Hector Noesi Opts Out Of 2020 Season; Keone Kela Still Not In Camp

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Pirates hurler Hector Noesi has opted out of participation in the 2020 season, manager Derek Shelton told reporters including Stephen Nesbitt of The Athletic (via Twitter). Noesi cited family reasons in asking out of his minor-league deal.

In other Pirates news, top relief pitcher Keone Kela still has not appeared at camp, Shelton further advised. (Via MLB.com’s Adam Berry, on Twitter.) The organization has not provided further information on the matter. It certainly could be that Kela is in some stage of protocols relating to COVID-19, though it would be unwise to assume anything about his situation.

Noesi had been looking for another big league opportunity after appearing last year with the Marlins. He struggled quite a bit in his time in Miami, his first MLB action since 2015. In the interim, the journeyman hurler — once a small part of a busted blockbuster — had a few nice campaigns in the KBO.

Kela’s situation is of greater concern to the Pirates from a competitive standpoint. If the club struggles as most anticipated, he’d be an obvious mid-season trade piece as a 2020-21 free agent. Kela turned in 29 2/3 innings of 2.12 ERA ball last year.

Pirates’ Socrates Brito, Blake Cederlind Test Positive For COVID-19

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Outfielder Socrates Brito and right-hander Blake Cederlind have both tested positive for the coronavirus, Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).  The two players consented to be identified as having positive tests, though Shelton didn’t provide further details on their condition, saying only “there are some other things that they have to do medically before they can get back on the field.”

League rules dictate that Brito and Cederlind will be in quarantine for two weeks, and must then be symptom-free and test negative on two separate tests before rejoining their teammates.  While health is obviously the first and foremost concern in this situation, the two-week hiatus will make it harder for either Brito or Cederlind to make the Bucs’ Opening Day roster, though Mackey notes that “neither Cederlind nor Brito was expected to begin the 2020 season with the big club.”

Brito signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh over the winter, culminating a 2019 that saw him belong to four different organizations (Diamondbacks, Padres, Blue Jays, and finally the Pirates) within the calendar year.  Brito did suit up for 17 games last season, all with Toronto, managing just a .291 OPS and 17 strikeouts over 43 plate appearances.  The 27-year-old has only a .179/.216/.309 slash line over 218 career PA at the Major League level, though he has put up some good numbers in the minors and can play all three outfield positions.

Cederlind was a fifth-round pick for the Pirates in the 2016 draft, and ranks 28th on MLB Pipeline’s list of the top 30 Pittsburgh minor leaguer.  He didn’t produce much over his first three pro seasons, though Mackey notes that Cederlind’s fortunes changed after turning his 100mph fastball into a sinker — the right-hander had a combined 2.28 ERA, 8.3 K/9, and 2.29 K/BB rate over 59 1/3 combined innings at the high-A, Double-A, and Triple-A levels in 2019.  This performance put him on the radar as a potential callup at some point in the 2020 season, as the rebuilding Pirates can afford to give looks to any promising youngster.

Amateur Draft Signings: 7/2/20

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Let’s round up the latest draft signings …

  • The Reds have inked Christian Roa to an at-slot deal, MLB.com’s Jim Callis reports on Twitter. The Texas A&M righty takes home just over $1.5MM to go pro. Fangraphs’ Eric Longenhagen was rather bullish on his outlook, grading Roa the 34th-best player available. It seems the Reds were also optimistic that Roa’s growing velocity would stick as he enters the Cincinnati system.
  • Two more Giants draft picks have gone under contract, with the team announcing the under-slot signings and Callis covering the bonuses (Twitter links). Supplemental second-rounder Jimmy Glowenke, a middle infielder out of Dallas Baptist, went for $600K ($953,100 slot value). Fifth-rounder Ryan Murphy, a right-hander from Le Moyne, secures $25K ($379K slot value). Glowenke placed 110th on the Baseball America board on the basis of his strong hit tool, reasonable power outlook, and solid defensive chops.
  • The Diamondbacks inked fourth-rounder A.J. Vukovich to a $1.25MM bonus, per Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com (Twitter link). That’s well north of the $483K pool allocation. He had been slated to head to Louisville to play third base, but will instead enter the Arizona system. MLB.com ranked Vukovich as the 86th-best player in the draft pool, explaining that the athletic youngster has existing and projectable power.
  • The Pirates also went over-slot, locking up third-round choice Nick Garcia, Callis reports via Twitter. He lands a $1.2MM bonus after being taken 79th overall ($780,400 slot value), thus completing the Pittsburgh draft business. The Bucs obviously felt the Chapman University righty was worth a little extra coin. Most draft pundits graded him as a late-second round talent. BA was highest at #56, citing the D-III performer’s “stuff, delivery, youth and fresh arm.”
  • Joining the Angels is David Calabrese, who secured the $744,200 slot value associated with his third-round selection, Callis tweets. The Canadian high-school outfielder will forgo his commitment to University of Arkansas. He could just be the steal of the draft, if the analysis of Keith Law of The Athletic proves correct. Law was far higher on Calabrese than the rest of the draft pundit cohort. Calabrese is quite youthful and exceptionally fast, making for an intriguing blend of baseline characteristics. Law believes that Calabrese has the makings of a quality hitter and could grow into some pop.

Pirates Sign Two Draft Picks

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The Pirates have signed supplemental first-round pick Carmen Mlodzinski and second-round selection Jared Jones, according to Jim Callis of MLB.com (Twitter links). Mlodzinski receives a $2.05MM bonus that comes in a bit shy of his $2.31MM slot value at No. 31, while Jones’ $2.2MM bonus trounces his No. 44 selection’s $1.689MM slot value. Jones’ agreement was initially reported a couple weeks back, but his bonus wasn’t known until today.

Mlodzinski, 21, didn’t post gaudy numbers in his freshman or sophomore year at South Carolina — a broken foot wiped out much of his sophomore campaign —  but he tore through the Cape Cod League last summer. Encouragingly, he continued those gains early in 2020 before the NCAA season was halted. In 54 2/3 innings between the Cape and his early 2020 showing, he posted a combined 2.47 ERA with a 62-to-12 K/BB ratio.

MLB.com rated Mlodzinski as the No. 21 player in this year’s draft, and Baseball America wasn’t far behind at No. 25. He fell within the top 50 players on the lists from FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen, ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel and The Athletic’s Keith Law, too. He’s still relatively new to pitching, having played infield until his senior year of high school, Law notes. Mlodzinski sits in the mid-90s with a heavy sinker that induces plenty of grounders, and he reached the upper 90s last summer in the Cape Cod League. Reports on his secondary pitches are more mixed, but he’s seen as a potential mid-rotation arm.

Jones, a high schooler out of California, is a two-way player who’s more highly regarded as a pitcher. Baseball America ranked him 41st in the class and noted that he has an 80-grade arm from the outfield but was a borderline first-round talent as a pitcher. MLB.com writes that his future is “definitely” on the mound, touting a 96-97 mph heater and a slider that looks to be an above-average offering as well. He’d been committed to Texas but will instead turn pro.

Derek Shelton On Pirates' Third Base Plans

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  • The Pirates have one of baseball’s top prospects in third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who’s part of their 60-man player pool, but first-year manager Derek Shelton will ease him into a regular role slowly. Pittsburgh’s currently planning on sticking with Colin Moran at the hot corner, per Shelton, who said (via Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic): “I don’t think it’s an open competition. You’re going to see Colin there a lot. I think you’re going to see other people there … but you’re going to see Colin there.” The 27-year-old Moran, acquired from the Astros in the teams’ January 2018 Gerrit Cole trade, was the Pirates’ primary option at third during the previous two seasons. Moran only produced 0.8 fWAR in 968 plate appearances, in which he batted .277/.331/.419. Nevertheless, the Pirates believe it’s best for Hayes to continue his development as an understudy. The 23-year-old did reach Triple-A for the first time in 2019, but his .265/.336/.415 line across 480 PA was 8 percent below the International League average, according to FanGraphs’ wRC+ metric.

Pirates Sign Fourth-Rounder Jack Hartman

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  • The Pirates have signed fourth-round righty Jack Hartman for $60K (Twitter link). That sums checks in well below the $538,200 value of Hartman’s selection, No. 108. The ex-Appalachian State hurler pumps high-90s heat, possesses a high-spin curveball and is on track to be a reliever in the majors, Callis writes.

Pirates Outright Yacksel Rios

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The Pirates outrighted hurler Yacksel Rios to Triple-A Indianapolis over the weekend, Adam Berry of MLB.com was among those to report. Rios has not been outrighted previously, and he doesn’t have the necessary service time to reject the assignment, so he’ll stay with the Pirates.

A 12th-round pick of the Phillies in 2011, the right-handed, hard-throwing Rios debuted with Philadelphia in 2017, though he has since had immense difficulty preventing runs at the major league level. After Rios posted a 6.38 ERA/5.64 FIP over 55 innings and parts of three seasons in its uniform, Philadelphia designated Rios for assignment last summer.

When the in-state rival Phillies booted the 27-year-old Rios from their roster, the Pirates took a flyer on him via the waiver wire. Rios went on to throw 10 1/3 frames across 10 appearances as a Pirate in 2019, but he yielded six earned runs on 10 hits (including two homers) and five walks, also totaling 10 strikeouts.

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