Before the Rule 5 draft deadline, the Pirates announced that they had selected contracts Andy RodriguezAnd the Mike BurroughsAnd the Colin Selby And the Jared Triolo to their 40-man roster. in corresponding movements, Tyler HeinemanAnd the Jeremy BeasleyAnd the Manny Banyolos And the Junior Fernandez They are all set to set. Their 40-man roster is still full.
Pittsburgh acquired Rodriguez from the Mets as part of a three-team trade centered around him Joe Musgrove Heading to San Diego. He made it through the minor leagues last year, which made it all the way to Triple-A by the end of the season. Across three levels, he hit .323/.407/.590 with 25 home runs. He has appeared mostly at catcher, but has also recorded some time at corner field, and at first and second base in 2022. The 22-year-old is ranked in the top 100 prospects in the game by Baseball America and MLB Pipeline, and given his lack of Bucs to picking options on the major league depth chart, there appears to be a solid chance he will make it to the major leagues sometime in 2023.
Burrows landed fifth in the American Baseball Rankings mid-season to the Pittsburgh Prospects. In the eleventh round of 2018, Burroughs spent half the year at Double-A before being promoted to Triple-A in June. In 12 Double-A starts, Burrows had a 2.94 ERA, striking out 32.4% of the time and walking them 8.9% of the time. The big drop in strikeouts at Triple-A (to 23.3%) largely caused his ERA to rise to 5.31 after his upgrade, though his BABIP opponents also jumped up by about 40 points. However, a solid two months in Triple-A to start 2023 and it won’t be long before the 23-year-old finds his way back to Pittsburgh.
Selby was the 16th pick in 2018, and started his career as a starter before the Pirates moved him to the bullpen last year. While the results weren’t particularly encouraging at first, he had a solid 2022 campaign at Double-A and reached Triple-A briefly at the end of the season. In 32 2/3 innings pitched in Double-A, Selby posted a 29.7% strikeout average against a 10.1% walk rate on the way to a 2.20 ERA. He’s only thrown three innings at Triple-A, but should start there next season and could be a depth option for the Pittsburgh Bulls next summer.
Triolo was selected in the third round of the 2019 draft, and spent the entire 2022 campaign at Double-A. He hit 0.2282/.375/419 and, as the line suggests, posted a solid 12.7% walk rate against a 17.6% strike rate. He is mostly a third baseman, but has clocked at shortstop and center field in 2022. Due to having Cibrian Hayes At third in the foreseeable future in Pittsburgh, it’s possible Triolo could have a future as a utility man.
In the DFA side of things, only Heineman and Banuelos saw any useful time in the major leagues. Heinemann appeared in 52 games at catcher, hitting .211/.277/.254, while Panuelos threw 32 2/3 innings off a 4.96 ball ERA after getting sacked by the Yankees mid-season. Fernandez only threw 3 1/3 innings for the Pirates, and Beasley threw only their Triple-A affiliate.
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