Pittsburgh Pirates Claim Chad Beck and Ali Solis

June 11, 2012; Toronto, ON, CANADA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Chad Beck throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at the Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-US PRESSWIRE

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced today that they had claimed Chad Beck and Ali Solis off waivers.

Beck is a right handed pitcher who was with the Toronto Blue Jays formerly.  Chad Beck was given a look in September by the Jays even though he had some seriously poor numbers.  He did alright, by getting three strikeouts in 2.1 innings pitched.

The guy is huge.  He came to the Jays from Arizona and he isn’t a young guy any longer, but he does throw gas working around 94-96.

He filled up the zone with his heater in the bigs, but walked 5.62 batters per nine innings while in the Pacific Coast League this year.  In the minors he gave up the long ball too from what we can tell probably from some poor stuff after his fastball–a splitter and an unimpressive slider.

Solis is a catcher who was with the San Diego Padres. Solis was signed as a non-drafted free agent on February 16, 2005. He hit .240 over 40 games while with the DSL Padres in 2005.  And that was about the highlight of his performance until this surprise….he was named to the Futures Game when Yasmani Grandal was called up to the bigs.

This is why John Sickel had to say about Solis when he was named as a sub to the World Futures All-Star Game:

"Signed out of Mexico in 2005, Solis was named to replace Grandal on the roster. Age 24, he’s hitting .298/.321/.460 in Double-A, showing power despite poor strike zone judgment. He’s thrown out 29% of runners this year, still learning to use his defensive tools effectively."

Solis made four plate appearances for the Padres in 2012 and struckout twice.   In seven minor league seasons, Solis threw out 161 of the 308 runners who attempted to steal—that’s 34 percent.

To make room for Beck and Solis, the Pirates have designated for assignment Eric Fryer and Jeff Clement.