Prospect Watch: After a Quick Ascent Through the Minor Leagues, Waddell Looking to Take Next Step in 2020
For Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Brandon Waddell, his rise through the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system was a quick one. He was drafted in 2015 and the next season he found himself in Double-A making the biggest jump of a Minor League prospect's career. However, since making the jump his career has gone stagnant as he has bounced around between Double-A and Triple-A for the past four seasons, failing to make the jump to the Big League club. Injuries have held Waddell back throughout his career, and 2019 was his first fully healthy season in the last three years as the left-hander worked through two forearm strains.
Waddell spent the 2019 season once again splitting time between the Altoona Curve and Indianapolis Indians but had the worst season in his professional baseball career. He appeared in 36 games, making 14 starts, and went 6-8 with a 6.28 ERA as he transitioned from a full-time starter to making appearances out of the bullpen on a regular basis. However, his strikeout rate was the highest it has ever been as he was able to strike out 111 batters in 97.1 innings of work, marking the first time in his career that he recorded more strikeouts than innings pitched. He is looking to bounce back strong in 2020 and get back to the style of pitching that helped him rise through the Minor League system.
A native of Houston, Texas, Waddell moved over 1,200 miles to play his college baseball at Virginia, where he played for three seasons. From the moment he stepped on campus, Waddell was a fixture in the Cavaliers starting rotation, making 16 starts during his freshman season. He made 16 starts that year and went 6-3 with a 3.96 ERA pitching in 88.2 innings of work. The transition to college baseball didn't seem to affect the young left-hander as he showed great control while striking out 84 batters during that time. It was a great start to his college career, but the best was yet to come. His sophomore year was his best as a collegiate player as he lowered his ERA to 2.45 while making 18 starts for the Cavaliers. He finished second in the NCAA with 10 wins and was the 12th pitcher in program history to reach 100 innings pitched.
During his senior season, he would break the school record making 18 starts for the Cavaliers, but his stats went up a little as he went 5-5 with a 3.93 ERA in 110 innings of work. While Waddell was performing well on the baseball field, he also was performing well in the classroom and graduated in three years with a Bachelor's Degree in Economics. The Pittsburgh Pirates saw his success on the diamond and decided to take a chance drafting the left-hander in the fifth round of the 2015 draft. It took the two teams about a month to reach an agreement, and when they did he would be assigned to the Class-A Short Season West Virginia Black Bears.
It would take another month before Waddell made his first professional start but, when he did, he came on with a bang. His debut came on August 9th, 2015 against the Williamsport Crosscutters and he lasted three innings allowing one earned run on three hits while walking one and striking out four batters. Overall, it would be a shaky start to Waddell's professional career as he went 1-1 in six starts with a 5.75 ERA in 20.1 innings of work. He showed pretty good strikeout ability, with 18 strikeouts in those 20.1 innings of work, while walking just seven batters. However, he wasn't missing a lot of bats as opponents hit .276 against Waddell picking up 24 hits in those 20.1 innings of work.
Despite the slow start to his professional career, Waddell was moved up to the Advanced-A Bradenton Marauders to start the 2016 season. He would reward the Pirates confidence by ripping right through the Florida State League, where he made five starts and went a perfect 4-0 with a 0.93 ERA. Waddell lasted at least five innings in all five of his starts while not allowing a run in three of those five starts. He continued showing his great control, walking just two batters, while striking out 26 batters in 29 innings of work. Because of his early success, and the team's need for starting pitching depth, Waddell was moved to Double-A Altoona just one year after he was drafted.
However, the move to Double-A came with some understandable growing pains as his ERA ballooned to 4.12 while he went just 7-9 in 22 games, 20 starts. His first four starts were strong for the Curve as he pitched to a 2.77 ERA, but then he hit the rough spot that would eventually skyrocket his end of the year stats. From May 29th to July 4th, Waddell gave up three or more runs every time out and only turned in two quality starts during that stretch. Waddell would move to a long-reliever/spot starter role by the end of the season and seemed to thrive in that scenario. Despite his struggles, his strikeout rate continued to stay high as he fanned 94 batters in 118 innings of work, but his command got away from him as he walked 61 batters. Waddell would go into the off-season with confidence on his side, as he pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen in his final appearance of 2016.
The 2017 season saw Waddell back with the Altoona Curve while also returning to the starting rotation. It was another up and down start for Waddell as he had some really good outings mixed in with some really bad outings. The best start of his Double-A career to that point came on May 30th when he pitched six shutout innings in a win against the Akron RubberDucks where he struck out six and did not walk a batter. However, he would be struck by the injury bug as he suffered the first forearm strain of his career and made the trip to the seven-day disabled list. After a pair of rehab assignments in Rookie Ball and Class-A ball, Waddell returned just over a month later and finished out the season in Altoona.
He would make seven more starts for the Curve to finish out the season and pitched well turning in five quality starts. He allowed more than two earned runs just once in those five starts and he looked like he had made a full recovery from the forearm strain from earlier in the year. After having a full off-season to recover, Waddell was back and healthy in 2018. He would start the season back with the Altoona Curve and he would come back looking like the old Waddell. He pitched in 53.2 innings of work going 2-1 with a 2.68 ERA during his nine games in Double-A. Seven of those nine appearances turned into quality starts and it was enough to earn Waddell his first trip to Triple-A Indianapolis in his career as he got one step closer to his MLB goal.
His first Triple-A experience did not go well as he lasted just 1.2 innings giving up five earned runs on 11 hits in a loss. The transition was full of bumps in the road for the left-hander, and he finished the year with a 4.12 ERA at the Triple-A level. He would settle down as he made more appearances at Triple-A and his final outing of the year at Triple-A was a six-inning effort where he gave up just one run on four hits. He gave up two earned runs or less in each of his last three starts and went into what would turn out to be the biggest off-season of his career. He earned his first invite to Big League Spring Training and got to show what he could do in front of Major League coaches day in and day out.
He appeared in eight games that Spring Training and gave up three runs in 6.2 innings of work (4.05 ERA) while striking out an impressive eight batters. He was never slated to make the Opening Day Roster and was sent down to Triple-A with the positive experience in his back pocket. However, 2019 would end up not going Waddell's way as he got knocked around once again in Triple-A. He moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen and, while the move benefitted his strikeout rate, it ended up taking a toll on his ERA. In 61.2 innings of work, Waddell would strike out 69 batters, but his command failed him as he walked 40 during that timeframe. In his first 21 appearances at Triple-A, Waddell gave up three or more earned runs almost 50% of the time and as a result was sent down to Double-A Altoona.
The demotion also involved moving Waddell back to the starting rotation, and he seemed to find himself once again. He made seven starts for the Altoona Curve and pitched to a 2.23 ERA while going 3-1 in 36.1 innings of work. He seemed to rediscover his command, walking just nine batters, while keeping a high strikeout rate, with 42. He would return to Triple-A Indianapolis. He would return to Triple-A at the end of July, but the struggles would return. He made seven starts to end the year for the Tribe and posted a 9.31 ERA in his final 29 innings of work. He went six innings only three times and once again struggled to find his footing in Triple-A.
As he enters 2020, Waddell is looking for a way to recapture the success he was seeing in the lower levels of the Minor Leagues. He is going to have to figure out how to pitch at Triple-A or his rise to the Major Leagues is going to come to a screeching halt. Left-handed talent is hard to come by, so the Pirates are going to try and stick with Waddell, but if the struggles continue they might have to move on from the prospect. The biggest thing for Waddell is going to be getting back his good command that was with him throughout the early part of his career. He has been walking more batters since his promotion to Triple-A and is not getting the chases he has been. Waddell has been a promising prospect for the Pirates and now he is looking to go from prospect, to MLB caliber pitcher.
It is still uncertain as to when the 2020 MLB season is set to begin, but we at Buccos Cove are determined to continue to bring you strong content. Until the 2020 season begins, we will continue looking at the players who make up the 2020 Pirates organization and how they will impact the organization this season.
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