Pittsburgh Pirates Designate Jeff Locke for Assignment

The Jeff Locke era is over in Pittsburgh.

Today the Pittsburgh Pirates announced they have designated Jeff Locke for assignment. Bringing an end Jeff Locke’s time in Pittsburgh. Locke has been with the team since his 2011 and been a consistent arm in the rotation since 2013.

Locke burst onto the scene in the first half of that 2013 season. During the first half of 2013, he pitched a 2.15ERA and was named to the NL All-Star team. That proved to be the highlight of Locke’s career thus far. He followed that up with a disastrous second half ERA of 6.12. He never fully recovered. Locke still finished the year with a respectable 3.52ERA.

Each year since that All-Star season, Locke has seen his numbers get worse and worse. In 2014, he had a 3.91ERA, 2015, a 4.49ERA. 2016 was the worst year yet as he finished with a 5.44ERA. Eventually, he was demoted to the bullpen.

Admittedly, Locke did pitch well out of the bullpen but it wasn’t enough to save his spot on the team. Locke was an obvious non-tender candidate as he was set to make over $4 million this year he is most definitely not worth that salary.

Locke was never Mr. Popularity during his time in Pittsburgh and I doubt many will miss him in 2017 but let’s take a moment to wish him all the best. The results weren’t there but he at least gave the team innings in 2016. Plus, we’ll always have the 2013 All-Star Game to look back on.

Thanks for checking us out here at Pirates Breakdown. Please make sure to follow us on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook for the best Pirates coverage all year long!