Pirates Rumors

Gerrit Cole Placed On DL Due To Elbow Inflammation

By Steve Adams | August 29, 2016 at 6:16pm CDT

The Pirates announced that ace Gerrit Cole has been placed on the disabled list, retroactive to Aug. 25, with “posterior inflammation of the right elbow.” Left-hander Steven Brault is up from Triple-A Indianapolis and will assume Cole’s spot in the rotation against the Cubs tonight.

This will be the second DL stint of the season for Cole, who missed just over a month earlier this summer when he was diagnosed with a strained right triceps. The fourth-place finisher in last year’s National League Cy Young voting, Cole hasn’t looked like himself since being activated from that initial trip to the disabled list, pitching to a 4.73 ERA and yielding 57 hits in 45 2/3 innings. Overall, he’s posted a 3.55 ERA with 7.5 K/9, 2.5 BB/9 and a 46.1 percent ground-ball rate in 114 innings. All of those rates have gone the wrong direction from last season’s masterful numbers, though there’s been very little loss of velocity for Cole.

Brault, 24, will join the Bucs for the second time this season. Originally acquired from the Orioles in the 2015 Travis Snider trade, Brault allowed four earned runs in 10 innings across a pair of starts earlier this season and has enjoyed a solid season at the Triple-A level as well. In 75 1/3 minor league innings this year, Brault has recorded a 3.70 ERA with a career-best 10.3 K/9 against 4.2 BB/9 to go along with a 41.5 percent ground-ball rate.

The loss of Cole is a tough break for a Pirates team that is presently just a half-game back from the Cardinals in the race for the second National League Wild Card spot. However, the struggles of Pittsburgh’s ace over the past several weeks have arguably been more detrimental, and if a short-term layoff allows him to right the ship prior to a theoretical postseason run, the club could come out ahead in the long haul.

NL Central Notes: Brewers, Pirates, Cardinals

By Connor Byrne | August 28, 2016 at 8:48am CDT

The prospects the Brewers have acquired during their rebuild have drawn plenty of attention, but the work general manager David Stearns did buying low on veterans during his first offseason at the helm shouldn’t be overlooked, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes. The two biggest success stories resulting from Stearns’ offseason dumpster diving are shortstop/third baseman Jonathan Villar and right-hander Junior Guerra, while reliever Carlos Torres has also been a quality addition. Villar, whom the Brewers acquired from Houston in November for pitching prospect Cy Sneed, has stolen the second-most bases in the league (50) and hit .297/.378/.434 with 10 home runs in 546 trips to the plate. The 31-year-old Guerra, a waiver claim from the White Sox, has been among the top rookies in baseball this year, having logged a 2.93 ERA, 7.55 K/9, 3.1 BB/9 and 46.1 percent ground-ball rate across 107 1/3 innings. “Some of the most rewarding moments you get in this job stem from challenging processes,” Stearns told Haudricourt. “Finding players who can contribute at the major-league level through some of the unconventional means, whether it’s waiver claims or minor-league free-agent signings, Rule 5 picks, lower-level trades, those are transactions that don’t generate a lot of public notoriety but can still have a positive effect on the organization.”

Here’s more from the NL Central:

Corner infielder David Freese accepted a two-year extension offer from the Pirates earlier this week because he likes their players and coaching staff, expects the club to keep contending, and didn’t want to risk encountering a tepid market for his services as a free agent, per Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Despite a handful of solid seasons with the Cardinals and Angels, Freese went unsigned until March last year before finally settling for a $3MM deal. He has since earned another $11MM in guarantees from Pittsburgh through 2018 by slashing .273/.351/.427 with 12 homers in 407 plate appearances. “I’ve made a lot of money in this game to begin with,” stated the 33-year-old Freese. “This contract helps a little more. Where I play and who I’m around is more important to me.”
The Cardinals are unsure how much longer shingles will keep righty Mike Leake out, writes Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “We’re not seeing great progress,” manager Mike Matheny said. “So he’s just been wiped out. There’s obviously pain involved. We’re obviously just trying to give him the best opportunity to get better. It’s been pretty slow.” Aside from visiting Cardinals physicians, the 28-year-old Leake has been away from the team since Monday because shingles is contagious. With Leake unable to go Saturday, the Cards turned to phenom Alex Reyes for his first career major league start. Reyes threw 4 2/3 innings and allowed a run on two hits and four walks in a 3-2 loss to the A’s. Leake, whom the Redbirds signed to a five-year, $80MM deal in the offseason, has compiled a 4.56 ERA, 6.39 K/9, 1.42 BB/9 and 54 percent grounder rate over 152 frames.
Right-hander Chad Kuhl will likely be in line for a spot in the Pirates’ rotation next season, observes Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Not only has the 23-year-old pitched well in 43 2/3 innings (3.50 ERA, 5.56 K/9, 2.27 BB/9), but the Pirates could have a few vacancies to fill in their rotation during the offseason. Righties Ivan Nova and Ryan Vogelsong are impending free agents, and southpaw Jeff Locke is a non-tender candidate. Plus, the Bucs are currently bracing for news on ace Gerrit Cole, who will undergo an examination on his elbow Sunday.

Quick Hits: Hill, BoSox, Bucs, Braves, Giants, Dodgers

By Connor Byrne | August 27, 2016 at 11:03pm CDT

Before he joined Oakland on a one-year, $6MM deal last November, the Red Sox tried to re-sign left-hander Rich Hill as a reliever, while the Pirates made a similar offer to the A’s and wanted him to start, reports Peter Gammons of GammonsDaily.com. Hill, who revived his career with four great starts as a member of the Red Sox last September, has carried his success into this year. Despite dealing with multiple injuries, the 36-year-old has put up a sterling 2.09 ERA, 10.21 K/9, 3.07 BB/9, 49.5 percent ground-ball rate and 15.7 percent infield fly rate in 82 innings. The A’s dealt him and outfielder Josh Reddick to the Dodgers on Aug. 1, thereby turning a cheap investment into three well-regarded prospects.

Gerrit Cole To Miss Start, Have Elbow Examined

By charliewilmoth | August 27, 2016 at 4:13pm CDT

Pirates ace Gerrit Cole will miss his next start Monday against the Cubs and will instead travel to Los Angeles to have his a specialist examine his sore elbow, Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes (all Twitter links). An MRI did not reveal that Cole has ligament damage (and the Bucs haven’t yet placed him on the DL).

Cole has a fine 3.55 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9 in 114 innings this season, but he’s pitched uncharacteristically poorly in his last four starts, with a 7.06 ERA and a .973 OPS against in that span. Losing him for any significant period of time would be a serious blow to the Pirates, who remain in the race for a National League Wild Card spot — the Bucs’ rotation has improved greatly this month thanks to strong performances from Jameson Taillon, Ivan Nova, Chad Kuhl and Ryan Vogelsong, but their rotation had previously been a significant problem.

Biertempfel guesses rookie Trevor Williams will take Cole’s start on Monday, although he notes that newcomer Drew Hutchison (who the Pirates acquired at last month’s deadline for Francisco Liriano and prospects) could also be a possibility. Williams, acquired in an offseason trade with the Marlins, has never pitched in the Majors.

NL Central Notes: Bell, Peraza, Senzel, Capuano, Nolin

By Steve Adams | August 22, 2016 at 9:40pm CDT

The Pirates recalled top first base prospect Josh Bell over the weekend, and he’ll have a larger role than he had in his brief initial call-up earlier this season (three brilliant pinch-hit plate appearances), GM Neal Huntington tells Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “We brought Josh up to play a decent amount,” said Huntington of the 24-year-old Bell, who has batted a .295/.382/.468 with 14 homers in 114 Triple-A games this season. Bell’s prospect pedigree and strong minor league production, paired with a .167/.306/.250 second half from John Jaso, could well pave the way to everyday at-bats (or something close to it) down the stretch. If he can prove himself to be a consistent hitter in the Majors and one capable of playing a passable first base — Huntington tells Brink that Bell’s defense will “continue to be a work in progress” — Bell could unseat Jaso and lead the team to shop the veteran (and his two-year, $8MM contract) over the winter.

A bit more from the NL Central…

Reds manager Bryan Price tells MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon that Jose Peraza could remain with the team for the rest of the year even if Zack Cozart returns quickly from a minor Achilles injury, but he stopped short of committing to the notion of Peraza sticking in the Majors through the end of the Triple-A season on Sept. 5. As Sheldon notes, Peraza was scarcely used when he spent a month and a half in the Majors earlier this summer, but he’s had a pair of multi-hit games since being recalled to fill in for Cozart at shortstop and could get looks at second base, in left field and in center field over the course of September in an effort to see what he can do with consistent playing time against MLB pitching. It would be somewhat strange for the Reds not to work him into the lineup as much as possible in order to get a better evaluation of Peraza, especially considering the fact that he can be deployed at a number of positions.
Having watched Dansby Swanson, Alex Bregman and Andrew Benintendi go from the 2015 draft to the Majors less than a year later, Reds third base prospect Nick Senzel said on the MLBPipeline.com podcast that he hopes for a similarly quick ascent (also via Sheldon). Senzel, the No. 2 overall pick in this season’s draft, is hitting .309/.400/.545 with seven homers in 46 games with Class-A Dayton. He hasn’t been moved quite as aggressively as Bregman, who played at Class-A Advanced during his debut season, but neither Swanson nor Benintendi topped Class-A last season and both still made it to the bigs this year. “You look at those guys … get there their first full year, as a player and a college hitter that makes you hungry to get up there,” said Senzel.
Brewers left-hander Chris Capuano isn’t likely to return to the team in 2016, GM David Stearns tells Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. The 38-year-old has been sidelined by an elbow injury since late May, and a platelet-rich plasma treatment hasn’t sped along his recovery as much as had been hoped. Stearns notes that Capuano “is still very motivated to make it back and continue his career,” so it sounds as if there’s a good chance he’ll aim to return in 2017 if he can’t do so at the tail end of the present season.
Another Brewers southpaw, Sean Nolin, recently underwent Tommy John surgery after trying to stave off the procedure, Haudricourt further reports. He, too, tried a PRP treatment but did not improve enough to avoid a UCL replacement. Milwaukee outfielder Rymer Liriano, meanwhile, has faced slow going after being struck by a pitch in the face this spring. Though he has now begun baseball activities, Liriano won’t be able to make it to the majors this year. Instead, says Stearns, he may be able to participate in fall instructional league action.

Pirates Extend David Freese

By Steve Adams | August 22, 2016 at 2:05pm CDT

2:05pm: Freese’s deal also allows him to make up to $1MM per year in bonuses based on plate appearances, tweets Heyman.

1:55pm: Freese’s deal guarantees him a total of $11MM, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports (Twitter link). The contract is front-loaded, paying him $6.25MM in 2017 and $4.25MM in 2018. His club option is valued at $6MM and comes with a $500K buyout.

1:44pm: The Pirates announced that they have reached a two-year extension with infielder David Freese that contains a club option for the 2019 season. Freese is a client of CAA Sports.

Freese, 33, inked a one-year, $3MM contract with the Pirates late in the offseason that has proven to be a terrific value for the club, as the former Cardinals/Angels third baseman has batted .276/.355/.437 with a dozen homers through 391 trips to the plate in 107 games this season. That he was available on a one-year deal in March was largely a function of that fact that there was little in the way of demand for third basemen on either the trade or free agent market this winter. He’ll now forgo the risk of sitting through that level of uncertainty again with a new two-year deal that presumably affords him a raise on his modest 2016 salary.

The Pirates took some heat from their fans following last month’s trade of Francisco Liriano and a pair of prospects in exchange for Drew Hutchison and a good deal of salary relief, but the savings from that swap — which freed Pittsburgh from Liriano’s $13MM salary in 2017 — look like they’ve already begun to be reallocated in the form of this deal. Freese will continue to give manager Clint Hurdle another option at third base in addition to Jung Ho Kang, who has twice been on the disabled list this season and is also currently the subject of a criminal investigation. He’s also made 43 appearances at first base this season and has even made a pair of cameos at second base, giving Hurdle multiple options when it comes to utilizing him over the next two to three seasons.

Minor MLB Transactions: 8/22/16

By Steve Adams | August 22, 2016 at 10:08am CDT

Here are the day’s minor moves from around the league, each courtesy of Baseball America’s Matt Eddy unless otherwise noted…

The D-backs have outrighted left-hander Adam Loewen to Triple-A Reno following last week’s DFA. The 32-year-old has spent time as both a pitcher and an outfielder over the life of his pro career but has returned to the mound for the past few seasons. He yielded 10 runs in six big league innings with the D-backs this year but had a 3.43 ERA in 39 1/3 innings with Reno prior to the original purchase of his contract. Loewen has whiffed 44 batters in that time, but he’s also walked 28, demonstrating some significant control problems.
Outfielder Daniel Robertson has been outrighted to Triple-A by the Mariners. He, too, was designated for assignment last week but, like Loewen, ultimately cleared waivers. The 30-year-old can handle all three outfield positions and has a solid .289/.361/.394 batting line in parts of five Triple-A seasons to go along with a .277/.322/.325 slash in 298 big league PAs.
The Angels have outrighted second baseman Sean Coyle to Double-A after he was designated for assignment last weekend. The Halos picked up the former Red Sox prospect on waivers earlier this year, but his .140/.252/.237 slash in 110 plate appearances with the Angels’ Double-A affiliate led to the loss of his 40-man roster spot.
The Angels also released fleet-footed outfielder Quintin Berry from their Triple-A affiliate. The 31-year-old Berry batted .270/.348/.325 with 35 stolen bases in 45 attempts over the life of 100 games/395 plate appearances this season. Berry’s wheels have landed him a big league job in each of the past three Septembers, and another club could look to add him to the 40-man roster when rosters expand in September in order to give its manager a late-inning weapon on the basepaths.
Left-hander Josh Outman has been released by the Pirates. The 31-year-old inked a minor league deal with Pittsburgh earlier this summer and wound up posting a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings with the team’s Triple-A affiliate in Indianapolis. That number isn’t exactly eye-catching, but Outman did post a solid 15-to-3 K/BB ratio and, in 23 plate appearances, limited left-handed hitters to a miserable .100/.217/.100 batting line with eight punchouts, so perhaps a team in need of a lefty specialist will consider him for the season’s final month.

Pirates To Place Jung Ho Kang On DL, Recall Josh Bell

By charliewilmoth | August 20, 2016 at 4:52pm CDT

The Pirates have announced that they will place third baseman Jung Ho Kang on the 15-day DL and will recall first baseman Josh Bell to take his place on the active roster. Kang sustained a left shoulder injury while sliding into second base during yesterday’s game against the Marlins.

Kang has batted a robust .243/.326/.481 in 267 plate appearances this year, although those numbers have dipped and his defense has flagged in the past two months (although he has three home runs in the past week). He has also faced allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman in a Chicago hotel earlier this summer.

With Kang on the shelf, David Freese will likely take most of the Pirates’ playing time at third base. Meanwhile, Bell will likely share time with John Jaso at first. Bell, one of the Bucs’ top prospects, had a brief stint in the Majors earlier in the summer and didn’t disappoint, reaching base in all four of his plate appearances and hitting a grand slam. But the Pirates opted to return him to the minors and continue playing Jaso, despite Jaso’s underwhelming performance at the plate. For the season, Bell has batted .295/.382/.468 at Triple-A Indianapolis, although his glove, rather than his bat, appeared to be the main source of the Pirates’ reluctance to give him regular playing time.

NL Central Notes: Cubs, Papelbon, Pirates, Reds

By Connor Byrne | August 13, 2016 at 8:38pm CDT

Even though Tommy La Stella hasn’t reported to Triple-A Iowa since the Cubs optioned him July 29, the team hasn’t yet closed the door on welcoming back the infielder this year, according to manager Joe Maddon (via Carrie Muskat of MLB.com). In regards to La Stella’s status, Maddon said Saturday, “I’m still very optimistic about him coming back, but nothing has changed.” Maddon added that La Stella will have to go the minors eventually and get some at-bats. Had he reported to Iowa by now, La Stella would have been on track to return to Chicago when rosters expand in September. But, with Iowa’s season set to end Sept. 5, time will become of the essence soon. Regardless, La Stella explained earlier this week that he’d rather “step away” from baseball than play for anyone other than the Chicago Cubs. The 27-year-old is currently on the temporary inactive list.

Braves Claim Wilfredo Boscan From Pirates

By Connor Byrne | August 10, 2016 at 7:30pm CDT

The Braves have claimed right-hander Wilfredo Boscan off waivers from the Pirates, who released the 26-year-old last Thursday. Boscan joins Chaz Roe as the second righty Atlanta has plucked from the waiver wire since Sunday.

After spending parts of nine seasons in the minor leagues with the Rangers, Padres, Red Sox and Pirates, Boscan finally cracked the majors this year in Pittsburgh and tossed 15 1/3 innings in six appearances (one start), yielding 11 earned runs on 15 hits and seven walks. While those numbers are unsightly, Boscan has shown promise in the upper minors, including a 3.07 ERA in 126 Triple-A innings last year. Boscan has been effective in 84 Triple-A frames this year, too, with a 3.75 ERA, 5.5 K/9 and 1.5 BB/9. Overall, he has amassed 58 Triple-A appearances (45 starts) and registered a 3.86 ERA, 5.7 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9.

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