Pirates Net Late Deadline Deals to Add to Major League/Minor League Rosters
Coming into Friday, the Pittsburgh Pirates were expected to be one of the most active teams in the market. However, as the day trickled on the only move the Pirates made sent Minor Leaguer Braeden Ogle to the Philadelphia Phillies for Minor League catcher Abrahan Gutierrez. There were several teams linked to guys like Richard Rodriguez and Chris Stratton, but nothing was materializing. 4 pm came and went, but with deals still coming in, there was still a chance that the Pirates would end up making a move. It came in at around 4:15 pm, but in the end, the Pirates made their moves shipping two relievers to contending teams, with one move expected and the other not.
The first of the two moves was the one everyone was expecting. The Pirates sent closer Richard Rodriguez to the Atlanta Braves in exchange for RHP Bryse Wilson and Minor League RHP Rickey Devito. The Pirates had finally moved their aging closer and in return got a young starting pitcher who could help the team now, and a starting pitcher to add to their Minor League depth. Many thought the Pirates were done after that, but then they pulled a move that many people didn't see coming. General Manager Ben Cherington swung a trade with his old club the Boston Red Sox as the Pirates sent LHP Austin Davis to the Red Sox for IF Michael Chavis. Today, we look at the impact of both trades and how the Pirates will use them for the future of this organization.
Richard Rodriguez to Atlanta
The first of the two late deadline trades was one that Pirates fans expected as Richard Rodriguez was sent to the Atlanta Braves. At 31-years-old, Rodriguez was not going to contribute to a winning team, and the trade allows David Bednar to step in as the team's closer moving forward. The thought was that the Pirates would get a couple of low-level prospects back on the trade, but instead, they got a player who can contribute right now and a pitcher to add to the team's Double-A depth. The first piece was RHP Bryse Wilson, who has faced the Pirates once already this season, and turned in what has been his strongest outing of the season to this point.
Bryse Wilson has pitched parts of four seasons in the Big Leagues but is most famous for his start in Game 4 of the 2020 NLCS. He held the eventual World Series Champion Dodgers to just one hit over 6.0 innings of work. In 22 games, 14 starts, over his career Wilson has a record of 5-4 with a 5.45 ERA over 74.1 career innings of work. He isn't a big strikeout guy, with only 58 strikeouts and he has walked 33 batters during that span. He offers a five-pitch mix that is headlined by his fastball, which he uses 41.9% of the time. He is mainly a groundball pitcher, with a groundball percentage of 42.2%, but unfortunately, a lot of those groundballs are finding holes. With the Pirates putting an emphasis on defense, the hope is that those groundballs find gloves instead of holes.
The second piece in the deal saw Double-A RHP Rickey Devito comes along in the trade, and he was sent to Double-A Altoona. Devito began his professional career in 2019 when he was drafted in the 8th round of the MLB Draft by the Atlanta Braves. However, he has only been able to appear in 17 games so far due to the pandemic and has gone 1-5 with a 3.16 ERA over 56.0 innings of work. He has a good strikeout rate, setting down 62 batters in those 56 innings of work. However, this season, he has gone 0-3 with a 2.66 ERA over 20.0 innings of work with his first full-time shot in the starting rotation. He has played in High-A for most of this season, but the Pirates may be moving him to Double-A. Either way, the Pirates are adding good pitching depth and hoping that these two guys can help the Pirates as they try to build a winner in Pittsburgh.
Austin Davis to Boston
After the news about Rodriguez broke, that seemed like it would be it for the Pirates in terms of moves. However, Cherington still had one more trick up his sleeve that no one expected. Reliever Austin Davis started the year injured and had only appeared in 10 games this season. If the Pirates were to trade a left-handed reliever you would have thought it would have been Chasen Shreve. However, Cherington hooked up with his old team, and it was Davis who would be moved. The Pirates sent the 28-year-old left-hander to Boston in exchange for infielder Michael Chavis. Chavis has Big League experience, bringing a power left-handed bat to the lineup.
Chavis has spent parts of the last three seasons in the Big Leagues, and over his career is a .234 hitter with 25 home runs and 83 RBI. His best showing came during his rookie season in 2019 when he ended the year hitting .254 with 18 home runs and 58 RBI over 95 games played. While Chavis does bring with him a lot of power, one thing he also possesses is a high strikeout rate. Over the course of his Major League career, Chavis has a career strikeout rate of 36.5%. This is the big reason that Chavis has struggled this season hitting just .190 in 31 games played. He has struck out in 40.5% of his at-bats this season and was not making consistent contact. He will likely head down to Triple-A and work on this before coming up and impacting the Pirates later this season.
Overall, I like the moves that Cherington made yesterday as he got rid of two guys the bullpen really didn't need and brought in pieces for the future and to help now. Wilson is going to join the Pirates rotation and could start as soon as Sunday. He is a groundball pitcher who has some upside and is only 23-years-old. The Pirates saw his good he could be earlier this year when he allowed one earned run over six innings against the Pirates. He has been up and down throughout his career, but hopefully, he is able to keep the ball on the ground and rely on the Pirate's improved defense in 2021. Chavis and Devito will head to Triple-A and High-A respectively so they can develop for the future. In the end, time will tell whether these are good moves or not, but Cherington is trying to build for the future and get the Pirates back to winning baseball.
The Pittsburgh Pirates (39-64) host the Philadelphia Phillies (51-52) in game two of their three-game series tonight at 7:05 pm. JT Brubaker (4-10) is slowly getting back on track as he takes the mound for the Pirates against Aaron Nola (7-6, 4.37) for the Phillies. You can watch the game live on AT&T Sportsnet or listen on 93.7 The Fan.
Comments
Post a Comment