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Jose Soriano

Pirates Designate Jose Soriano For Assignment, Select Diego Castillo

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Nov 14: Soriano has cleared waivers and been returned to the Angels, per Jack Harris of the L.A. Times.

Nov 7: The Pirates announced that right-hander Jose Soriano has been designated for assignment.  The move opens up a 40-man roster spot for infielder Diego Castillo, whose contract has been selected to the 40-man.

Soriano threw only 3 2/3 innings for Pittsburgh’s A-ball affiliate in Bradenton this season, as the 23-year-old had to undergo his second Tommy John surgery in as many seasons.  Soriano first went under the knife in February 2020 when he was still a member of the Angels organization, but the Pirates rolled the dice and selected Soriano in last December’s Rule 5 draft.

Soriano’s latest surgery took place in mid-June, so considering the usual 13-15 month timeline for TJ recoveries and the fact that this is already Soriano’s second operation in such a brief period, it certainly doesn’t seem like he’ll see any action during the 2022 season.  It’s a brutal outcome for a youngster who showed such intriguing promise when pitching in the Angels’ farm system, as Soriano drew plenty of attention thanks to his big fastball and strikeout numbers.  Soriano has mostly worked as a starting pitcher, but he was seen as a potential power reliever or even a closer candidate thanks to his one-two punch of a fastball and curve, even if walks continued to be an issue.

Not to be confused with the veteran reliever of the same name, the Pirates’ Diego Castillo is a 24-year-old infielder who joined the organization from the Yankees this past July as part of the Clay Holmes trade.  Castillo hadn’t hit much over his first four minor league seasons, but after the canceled 2020 minor league campaign, his bat took a big step forward in his return to action.  Castillo hit .278/.355/.487 with 19 home runs in 440 total plate appearances in 2021, with those PA split over the Yankees’ Double-A team and the Pirates’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.

Between this development at the plate and his ability to play second base, third base, and shortstop, Castillo has put himself on the radar as a candidate to reach the majors next season.  As noted by Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Castillo would’ve been eligible for minor league free agency if the Pirates hadn’t put him on the 40-man roster.

Pirates Outright Seven, Chasen Shreve Elects Free Agency

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The Pirates announced a slew of roster moves today, outrighting seven players off the 40-man roster, per the team. Pitchers Chase De Jong, Enyel De Los Santos, Kyle Keller, Connor Overton, Chasen Shreve, and Shea Spitzbarth have all been outrighted to Triple-A. Infielder Wilmer Difo was also outrighted to Triple-A.

Shreve has elected free agency, per Jason Mackey of PGSportsNow (via Twitter).The 31-year-old southpaw posted a 3.20 ERA/4.73 FIP across 57 appearances out of the bullpen. Shreve has suited up for the Braves, Yankees, Cardinals, Mets, and Pirates over an eight-year career.

The Pirates also added a number of players to the 40-man roster, returning most from the 60-day injured list. Steven Brault, Blake Cederlind, Dillon Peters, Jose Soriano, Duane Underwood Jr., and Bryse Wilson are all now on the 40-man roster.

Pirates Rule 5 Pick Jose Soriano Undergoes Tommy John Surgery

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TODAY: Soriano underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday, Tomcyzk told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Kevin Gorman and other reporters.

JUNE 10: The Pirates selected right-hander Jose Soriano out of the Angels organization with the top pick in last December’s Rule 5 Draft, knowing at the time he still required several months of rehab following 2020 Tommy John surgery. The hope was to get some innings out of Soriano at some point this summer, but Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomcyzk told reporters yesterday that Soriano has new damage in his pitching elbow (Twitter link via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Mike Persak). Another surgery is now possible.

It’s a discouraging outcome for the 22-year-old Soriano, who is now nearly 16 months removed from that 2020 Tommy John procedure. He’d progressed his rehab to the point where he’d been cleared to pitch in minor league games as a ramp-up to his MLB debut, but based on his results, it’s clear that something was amiss. Soriano appeared in two games, the first of which included three shutout innings with one hit, no walks and five punchouts. In his second outing, Soriano faced 10 batters but was clobbered for seven runs on five hits and three walks while only recording two outs.

[Related: 2020 Rule 5 Draft Results | April Update On Rule 5 Draftees]

Entering the season, Soriano was ranked as the Pirates’ No. 18 prospect at Baseball America, No. 22 at FanGraphs and No. 24 at MLB.com. He’s praised as a hard-throwing righty with potential closer upside thanks to an upper-90s heater that can touch triple digits and a power curveball. His 2019 season in A-ball showed off plenty of that upside (2.55 ERA, 26 percent strikeout rate, 52.8 percent grounder rate) but also underscored one of the most pressing red flags in the righty’s outlook (15 percent walk rate).

The new injury casts doubt on whether Soriano will pitch for the Pirates in 2021 — or at all. He’s already on the 60-day injured list, so the Bucs can keep him there until season’s end without any ramification, even if he undergoes another surgery. When the offseason rolls around, however, they’d need to determine whether they want to carry Soriano throughout the winter in hopes of getting some innings from him in 2022. Soriano would retain his Rule 5 status into next season, meaning he still couldn’t be optioned to the minors until spending at least 90 days on the active roster.

If at any point the Pirates decide to cut bait, Soriano would be placed on waivers before being offered back to the Angels, who would not need to carry him on the 40-man roster.

NL Central Notes: Wong, Cardinals, Pirates

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Brewers second baseman Kolten Wong left last night’s game after three innings due to a left oblique strain, after striking out swinging in what ended up as his final at-bat of the game.  Brewers manager Craig Counsell told MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters that “at this point, it’s day to day.  It’s not bad, but it’s concerning because it’s the same spot” that Wong previously felt a strain earlier this season.  That initial oblique issue sent Wong to the injured list and caused him to miss 11 games in April.

Wong has been a strong part of Milwaukee’s success this season, delivering his usual stellar glovework at second base while hitting .280/.343/.441 (114 OPS+, 115 wRC+) over 178 plate appearances.  Ideally, Wong could avoid the IL altogether, but even another relatively minimal absence would count as a minor victory considering how oblique injuries can often be longer-term problems.  Keston Hiura, Luis Urias, or Daniel Robertson are fill-in options at second base if Wong indeed has to miss significant time, but none can match Wong’s all-around contributions.

Some more injury updates from around the NL Central…

  • With Miles Mikolas and Jordan Hicks both on the injured list, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) said the “best case” scenario is to have both right-handers back in August.  Mikolas is roughly 3-5 weeks from being re-evaluated after receiving a stem cell injection as he works his way back from forearm tightness, while Hicks is out until at least July 1 after being placed on the 60-day IL due to elbow inflammation.  Given that both hurlers have had significant long-term injury absences prior to these current health issues, the Cards will surely be as cautious as possible in bringing either Mikolas or Hicks back into action, despite the team’s pitching needs.
  • Max Moroff is considering surgery to address his ailing left shoulder, after the Cardinals infielder went on the 10-day IL with a shoulder subluxation last week.  If Moroff doesn’t opt for surgery, he’ll still be out of action for at least 4-6 weeks.
  • Pirates GM Ben Cherington hinted last week that outfield prospect Travis Swaggerty was leaning towards shoulder surgery, and the team announced yesterday (hat tip to The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel) that Swaggerty indeed went under the knife and will miss the rest of the season.  Swaggerty is expected to be fully recovered in roughly five months, though it’s still a tough setback for the 10th overall pick of the 2018 draft.
  • Jose Soriano has also hit an injury speedbump, as the Pirates right-hander experienced “recurrent elbow discomfort” while on a minor league rehab assignment.  Soriano underwent Tommy John surgery in February 2020, though the Bucs still picked him off the Angels’ roster with the first pick in last December’s Rule 5 draft.  Despite the missed time, MLB Pipeline still ranked Soriano 24th among all Pirates prospect, highlighting his 70-grade fastball and a 55-grade curve.

2020 Rule 5 Draft Update

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An abnormal number of picks from the 2020 Rule 5 Draft survived Spring Training and made the Opening Day rosters with their new clubs. The Orioles and Marlins both broke camp with a pair of Rule 5 picks on the active roster, while the Pirates opened the season with one Rule 5 pick on the roster and one on the injured list. Most clubs that are carrying a Rule 5 pick, unsurprisingly, have little in the way of postseason aspirations. There are a few October hopefuls among those still clinging to Rule 5 picks, however, and it’ll take some uncharacteristically strong Rule 5 showings for those players to survive the season.

We’ll take a look at how the surviving Rule 5 draftees are faring periodically throughout the year. Here’s the first glance…

Currently in the Majors

  • Brett de Geus, RHP, Rangers (via Dodgers): Injuries throughout the Rangers’ bullpen might have helped the 23-year-old de Geus crack the Opening Day roster in Texas. He’s out to a shaky start, having walked three batters and hit another three against just two strikeouts through his first 5 2/3 innings. On the plus side, 13 of the 15 balls put into play against him have been grounders.
  • Akil Baddoo, OF, Tigers (via Twins): Baddoo is one of the best stories (maybe the best) of the young 2021 season. The 22-year-old homered on his first swing in the big leagues as his family rejoiced in the stands, and in less than two weeks’ time he’s added a grand slam, a walk-off single (against his former organization) a 450-foot dinger off Zack Greinke and a fourth homer. Baddoo has a ludicrous 1.342 OPS through his first 29 plate appearances in the Majors, and while he obviously won’t sustain that, he’s forcing a legitimate audition in the Detroit outfield. Baddoo missed nearly all of 2019 due to Tommy John surgery and didn’t play in 2020. Despite that layoff and the fact that he’d never played above A-ball, the Tigers called his name in December. It may have seemed like a stretch at the time, but it doesn’t look that way now.
  • Garrett Whitlock, RHP, Red Sox (via Yankees): The Sox would surely love for Whitlock to stick, having plucked him from their archrivals in New York. So far, so good. Better than good, in fact. Through 6 1/3 scoreless innings, Whitlock has yielded three hits and punched out nine batters without issuing a walk. He’s sitting 95.6 mph with his heater and has posted a hefty 16.9 percent swinging-strike rate. Whitlock also had Tommy John surgery in 2019, so even though he’s previously been a starter, it makes sense to monitor his workload ease him into the mix as the Sox hope to get through the year with him in the ’pen.
  • Tyler Wells, RHP, Orioles (via Twins): Wells has allowed a pair of homers and surrendered three total runs on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 frames. The O’s aren’t trying to win in 2021, but their bullpen also has four arms that can’t be optioned (Cesar Valdez, Shawn Armstrong, Adam Plutko, Wade LeBlanc). Keeping both Wells and Mac Sceroler (currently on the IL) brings them  to six and will hamper their flexibility.
  • Zach Pop and Paul Campbell, RHPs, Marlins (via Orioles and Rays): Pop was technically the D-backs’ pick in the Rule 5, but Arizona immediately flipped him to the Marlins for a PTBNL. The 24-year-old didn’t allow an earned run in five spring frames but as I was finishing this post, he served up a three-run homer, bringing his season line to seven runs on three hits, three walks and two hit batters in 3 1/3 innings. Campbell has struggled to a similar extent. He’s surrendered five runs (three earned) and given up four hits and three walks in just 2 2/3 innings. With the Marlins out of tank mode, it’ll be tough to carry both all year.
  • Jordan Sheffield, RHP, Rockies (via Dodgers): Sheffield was the No. 36 overall pick in the 2016 Draft, but control issues prevented him from being protected on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster. FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen gives Sheffield three plus pitches in his scouting report (fastball, curveball, changeup) but also pegs his command at a 30 on the 20-80 scale. Sheffield has walked or plunked 15 percent of the hitters he faced in the minors. He’s yet to walk anyone 13 batters he’s faced with the Rockies, but he did hit one and has also tossed a pair of wild pitches. That said, he’s also sitting 95.5 mph with his heater and is unscored upon in 3 2/3 frames.
  • Luis Oviedo, RHP, Pirates (via Indians): Oviedo was the Mets’ pick at No. 10, but they had a deal worked out to flip him to the Pirates in exchange for cash. Oviedo has been hammered for six runs on six hits (two homers) and two walks with five strikeouts through 4 2/3 innings so far. Even pitching for a tanking club, Oviedo will need to show some improvement in order to stick on the roster all season.
  • Will Vest, RHP, Mariners (via Tigers): The Mariners kept last year’s Rule 5 pick Yohan Ramirez for the whole season, but it’ll be tougher to do with a full schedule in 2021. The Mariners’ young core is also beginning to rise to the big leagues, and Vest will need to fend off some intriguing young arms. He’s done a decent job so far, allowing a pair of runs (one unearned) on five hits and four walks with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.
  • Trevor Stephan, RHP, Indians (via Yankees): Stephan whiffed 16 of 44 hitters this spring to earn a spot on the Indians’ Opening Day roster, but he’s allowed four runs in his first four MLB frames. The 25-year-old has surrendered five hits (including a homer), walked a pair and hit a batter so far while facing a total of 21 hitters.
  • Ka’ai Tom, OF, Athletics (via Indians): Tom, 26, raked at a .310/.412/.552 pace with a homer, two doubles and a triple in 34 spring plate appearances. After that strong audition, however, he’s just 1-for-16 with six strikeouts through his first 16 trips to the plate with the A’s.

On the Major League injured list

  • Jose Soriano, RHP, Pirates (via Angels): It wasn’t a surprise to see Soriano open the year on the injured list. He’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery performed in Feb. 2020 and didn’t pitch in a game with the Pirates this spring. He’ll be sidelined for at least the first two months, as the Bucs put him on the 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot when they signed Tyler Anderson. Soriano hasn’t pitched above A-ball, but the Pirates aren’t exactly a win-now club, so they can afford to stash him as a seldom-used bullpen piece in order to secure his rights beyond the 2021 season.
  • Mac Sceroler, RHP, Orioles (via Reds): Sceroler fanned six hitters in 3 2/3 innings early in the season but also yielded three runs on five hits (two homers), three walks and a hit batter. The Orioles recently placed him on the 10-day injured list due to tendinitis in his right shoulder, although it’s not expected to be too lengthy an absence.
  • Dedniel Nunez, RHP, Giants (via Mets): Nunez was hit hard in the Cactus League, surrendering four runs in 3 1/3 innings. He’ll now miss the entire 2021 season after sustaining a UCL tear that required Tommy John surgery this spring. Nunez will spend the season on San Francisco’s 60-day injured list and receive a year of MLB service, but he’ll still be subject to Rule 5 restrictions in 2022 once he’s healthy. He’ll need to spend at least 90 days on the MLB roster before he can be sent to the minors; if he doesn’t last that long, he’ll have to pass through waivers and, if he clears, be offered back to the Mets.

Returned to their original club

  • Jose Alberto Rivera, RHP, Angels (via Astros): The Angels didn’t take much of a look at Rivera, returning him to Houston on March 24 after just one inning of official work in Cactus League play.
  • Kyle Holder, SS, Reds (via Yankees): The Reds weren’t sure who their shortstop was going to be heading into Spring Training, but they ultimately settled on moving Eugenio Suarez back to that spot, sliding Mike Moustakas back to third base and giving prospect Jonathan India the nod at second base. A strong spring from Holder might have at least given him a bench spot behind that trio, but he hit just .219/.359/.250 in 39 plate appearances. The Reds returned him to the Yankees on March 30.
  • Gray Fenter, RHP, Cubs (via Orioles): The Cubs returned Fenter to the Orioles on March 12 after just one spring appearance. He hasn’t pitched above A-ball yet.
  • Dany Jimenez, RHP, Athletics (via Blue Jays): The 27-year-old Jimenez was a Rule 5 pick in consecutive offseasons — once by each Bay Area club. The A’s returned him to the Jays on March 15, however, after he yielded four runs (two earned) in three innings of work this spring.

Pirates Sign Tyler Anderson

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It’s been an offseason focused on stockpiling prospects and shedding payroll for the Pirates, but the club on Wednesday announced its first Major League free-agent signing of the winter. Left-hander Tyler Anderson has signed a one-year contract for the 2021 season, while Rule 5 righty Jose Soriano has been placed on the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Anderson, a client of Beverly Hills Sports Council, is reportedly guaranteed $2.5MM on the deal.

Tyler Anderson | Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Anderson became a free agent when the Giants non-tendered him at the Dec. 2 deadline. The 31-year-old appeared in 13 of their games last season, started 11, and notched a 4.37 ERA in 59 2/3 innings. Those numbers look OK, but Anderson survived despite below-average strikeout, walk and groundball percentages of 15.8, 9.6 and 28.5, respectively. Anderson also only managed a 5.69 SIERA, which ranked next to last among 81 pitchers who amassed at least 50 innings in 2020.

Before he joined the Giants, Anderson spent 2016-19 as a member of the Rockies, with whom he largely posted acceptable production. Overall, Anderson has a 4.65 ERA/4.36 SIERA with a 21.0 percent strikeout rate and a 7.7 percent walk rate across 456 2/3 innings. The former Oregon star and first-round pick has seen his time on the mound interrupted by a series of knee injuries, by Anderson’s elbow and shoulder have held up throughout his pro career.

Anderson should fill a rotation spot this year with the non-contending Pirates, who don’t have anything resembling a front-line starter at the moment after trading away both Joe Musgrove and Jameson Taillon this winter as part of their ongoing rebuild. Anderson will join Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl as the most experienced starters on the 40-man roster in Pittsburgh, while younger arms like Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker, Wil Crowe and Miguel Yajure will vie for opportunities to prove themselves at the MLB level.

Any of Anderson, Brault or Kuhl could emerge as summer trade chips if they’re throwing well this year, and it’s still plausible that either Brault or Kuhl could be moved between now and Opening Day.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the agreement (via Twitter). Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the terms (Twitter link).

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