Twins, Brady Feigl Agree To Minor League Deal
The Twins are in agreement with reliever Brady Feigl on a minor league contract, as reflected on the MLB.com transaction log. He’ll head to Triple-A St. Paul to begin the season.
Feigl, who turned 34 in December, has pitched professionally for over a decade. He spent time in the Atlanta and Texas farm systems without getting to the majors. Feigl logged a couple years in independent ball and pitched well enough to secure a minor league deal with the Pirates last winter. The 6’4″ southpaw was rewarded for his perseverance with an MLB call last August. He made his debut and pitched in mop-up work against the Cubs, surrendering six runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Pittsburgh designated Feigl for assignment after that lone appearance. They ran him through outright waivers and kept him in Triple-A until he elected minor league free agency at season’s end. While his debut didn’t go as hoped, he had a nice year in the upper minors. Feigl pitched 60 innings of 4.05 ERA ball with a 27.5% strikeout rate. He has a 3.27 ERA across 124 Triple-A frames over parts of four seasons.
Pirates Outright Brady Feigl
August 31: Feigl has been outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis, according to his MLB.com transactions tracker.
August 27: The Pirates announced that both right-handers Jared Jones and Carmen Mlodzinski have been reinstated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis while left-hander Brady Feigl has been designated for assignment.
Feigl, 33, is a journeyman who has been known in baseball circles for some time due to an odd coincidence, or series of coincidences. He and Brady Feigl got some attention a few years ago due to not only having the same name, but also having a similar appearance. Both had red beards, wore glasses and were the same height. Both are pitchers, though one throws from the left and the other from the right. Inside Edition did a story on the weird juxtapositions between the two five years ago (YouTube link), even getting the two to take a DNA test, though it turned out they aren’t related.
The left-handed Feigl was added to Pittsburgh’s roster on Sunday after over a decade grinding away in the minors and indy ball. He had tossed 51 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year with a 3.83 earned run average, 29% strikeout rate and 6.1% walk rate.
He was able to make his major league debut yesterday, though it didn’t go especially well. He allowed six earned runs in an inning and two thirds, allowing seven hits without recording a strikeout. While sitting on a career ERA of 32.40 was probably not how he dreamed it would go, he can at least say he made it to the show.
With the trade deadline now passed, the Pirates will have to place Feigl on waivers in the coming days. If he goes unclaimed, he won’t have the right to reject an outright assignment, as he lacks both three years of service and a previous career outright. If that comes to pass, he will return to his previous status, providing the Bucs with depth in a non-roster capacity.
Pirates Select Brady Feigl
The Pirates announced that they have selected the contract of left-hander Brady Feigl from Triple-A Indianapolis. Feigl will take the 26-man and 40-man roster left vacant by Hunter Stratton, who was placed on the 60-day injured list after suffering a season-ending left knee patella tendon rupture in yesterday’s game.
The call-up marks the end of a long and unlikely journey for Feigl, who is now on the verge of making his MLB debut at age 33. Feigl wasn’t drafted coming out of Mount St. Mary’s University, and he spent the 2014-19 seasons pitching in the Braves’ and Rangers’ farm systems with some level of success, though a Tommy John surgery cost him almost all of both the 2015 and 2016 campaigns.
Between the pandemic-canceled 2020 minor league season and then more injuries in 2021, Feigl spent two years away from pro ball before resurfacing in the independent Atlantic League. He pitched well enough in two Atlantic League seasons to land a minor league contract with the Pirates for 2024, and he has delivered a 3.83 ERA, 29% strikeout rate, and 6.1% walk rate over 51 2/3 innings for Indianapolis. A .333 BABIP and an inflated 19% homer rate have somewhat inflated Feigl’s ERA, but he has otherwise pitched well in his return to affiliated baseball.
Feigl isn’t exactly a prospect given his age, and he might be just a short-term add to the Pirates’ bullpen in the wake of Stratton’s sudden and unexpected injury. Still, getting onto a big league roster represents a tremendous achievement for Feigl after all of the twists and setbacks of his pro career, and he’ll get at least some opportunity to show what he can do against MLB hitters.