The Pittsburgh Pirates made several roster moves today, including a trio of talented pitchers.
The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that they have made several roster moves. The erstwhile Travis Sawchik assembled them in one tweet.
Pirates roster moves pic.twitter.com/flTHAsYD0D
— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) September 6, 2016
The moves were not unexpected, but still carry interesting subplots.
Hutchison and Glasnow
Drew Hutchison and Tyler Glasnow both return to the major leagues. Hutchison was acquired in the Francisco Liriano deal, and numerous comments from GM Neal Huntington point to his stock being very high among Pirates brass. He appeared in three games for Toronto this season, with his last appearance being a start on July 7th. He has posted a 4.97 ERA and 6.55 FIP this year. He has pitched 406 innings in the major leagues, including a 13-win 2015 season.
Glasnow of course is the Pirates’ #1 rated pitching prospect but has struggled with control in the major leagues. He has worked his way back from a minor injury, and will carry a 5.40 ERA and 1.40 SO/W ratio into the last stretch of the season.
Huntington commented in a radio appearance recently that the club expects to go to something resembling a six-man rotation during the stretch run. Of course, that comment was made back when the Pittsburgh Pirates were more firmly in the Wild Card chase. With the team’s recent slide, that scenario may be out of the question.
If peppering spot starts is still in the Pirates’ plans, it will be interesting to see which one of these two pitchers gets the nod. It is entirely possible that both could be used. The organization might be more anxious to see how Hutchison’s stuff plays under Ray Searage‘s tutelage, while being more patient with Glasnow.
Where does Williams fit in?
In addition to having the best twitter feed in the system, Trevor Williams has quietly been building up a solid resume, as Indianapolis Indians communications chief Ryan Sheets points out:
https://twitter.com/RyanSheets_/status/773234919195578368
Should the Pirates continue to fall out of contention, it would not be surprising if they decided to roll Williams out for a start to see how his stuff will play at a major league level. For now, expect him to be an intriguing option out of the bullpen.
Pedro Florimon brings an established late-inning defensive/switch-hit option that Clint Hurdle would be comfortable with. Curtis Partch and Kelvin Marte are fringe bullpen arms, and it is not surprising to see them DFA’d.
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