Pittsburgh Pirates: Who they Have Scouted

As Major League Baseball’s non-waiver trade deadline nears, the Pittsburgh Pirates continue to search for ways to improve their roster.

So far it seems as if the Pittsburgh Pirates are looking at the starting pitching market to help bolster their chances at post season baseball.  As all the Pirate fans know the Pittsburgh Pirates rotation seems to be the biggest issue on the team.  Position player wise the Pirates have a surplus.  Their bench is among the best in baseball with Matt Joyce, Sean Rodriguez, and now Adam Frazier.  Their biggest weakness as the plate is catcher, and Francisco Cervelli is close to returning from the disabled list. In fact there is so much depth that the Pirates had to send down top prospect Josh Bell to Triple-A to help him continue to get at-bats.

On the flip side, the starting rotation seems to be the biggest issue.  The Pittsburgh Pirates ranked #22 in the league with a 4.80 earned run average by their starters.  Although the rotation has been better over last few weeks.  The Pirates have gotten rid of their biggest issues in Jon Niese, by moving him to the bullpen.  They also had allowed some of the young players to pitch in the rotation and they have had better results in doing so.  Plus the Pittsburgh Pirates have seen Gerrit Cole come back to the rotation, Liriano start to pitch better, and Jameson Taillon will be back this week.

However, it seems the Pirates front office is still looking to add a veteran, more proven pitcher to help limit some of the innings of the younger arms.  With that they have sent their scouts out this week and doing their homework on the starters that could be available for trade.  Here is who they have scouted so far…

Next: A young, hard throwing Yankee

According to Rob Biertempfel, the Pittsburgh Pirates have talked to the New York Yankees about right-handed pitcher Nathan Eovaldi.

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Rob Biertempfel, the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Yankees have discussed a possible trade involving Nathan Eovaldi. So far this season Eovaldi has struggled for the Yankees. In fact, he was moved to the Yankee bullpen but will return to their starting rotation on Tuesday night.

In 98 2/3 innings pitched this season Nathan Eovaldi has not gotten the results he or the Yankees were hoping for. He is averaging 7.39 K/9 and just 2.92 BB/9 which are strong numbers, but his 1.73 HR/9 is not. Eovaldi has allowed 19 home runs on the season, and that is a big reason his ERA is 5.11.

One thing with Eovaldi is he is only 26 years of age, is controlled through next year, and has a high 90s fastball.  He is an intriguing arm, but would need a lot of work to be worth plugging into this rotation over the current options.

Next: From the Young to the Old

36-year-old journeyman Rich Hill is having a career year for the Oakland Athletics. In 76 innings pitched Hill has a 2.25 ERA, 2.57 FIP, and a 3.60 xFIP. Furthermore, he has allowed just two home runs and is averaging 10.66 K/9. Rich Hill is a player that the Pittsburgh Pirates have been linked to in the very recent past. When Rich Hill started against the Pirates in Oakland on July 2nd, multiple teams scouted him that start including the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The Pirates also had scouts in attendance for Hill’s start on July 17th.  However, Hill did not make it out of the first inning due to a blister on his finger.  With that he is no to be considered an injury liability and will be fine for his next start most likely.

Hill maybe the most expensive rental pitcher on the market.  He is a free agent at the end of the year and he is on a one year, six million dollar deal.  The A’s are going to be able to demand a high price for him, one that will likely be to high for the Pirates to meet.

Next: A Lefty in Tampa

According to Roger Mooney of the Tampa Bay Times, the Pirates were one of five teams scouting Matt Moore’s start on Saturday night. The other four teams scouting Matt Moore were the Dodgers, Nationals, Rangers, and Red Sox.

Matt Moore put on a good show for those scouts that were in attendance on Saturday night. In his start on Saturday Moore allowed just two runs on five hits and one walk in a season high 7 1/3 innings pitched. This outing lowered Matt Moore’s ERA for the season to 4.33.

Overall on the season Matt Moore has a 4.33 ERA, 4.60 FIP, and a 4.72 xFIP in 116 1/3 innings pitched. In those 116 1/3 innings pitched Moore is averaging 7.58 K/9, 2.63 BB/9, and 1.47 HR/9. While Moore’s home run rate is a career worst, his walk rate is the best of his career and his strikeout rate is the third best of his career.

Even though Moore’s overall numbers this season are nothing special, he has been on a good run of late. Dating back to June 12th, which covers seven starts, Matt Moore has a 2.51 ERA and a 4.01 FIP in 46 2/3 innings pitched. Moore has also watched his home run rate drop during this stretch from the 1.81 HR/9 it was through his first 12 starts, to just 0.96 HR/9 his last seven starts.

This is Moore’s first season back after missing last year with Tommy-John surgery.  Before then he looked like a future ace for the Rays.  Moore is still a very solid pitcher, who still has a strong upside.  He may not reach the level of a number one, but he still just 27 years of age and could provide a very good middle of the rotation arm right now.

Next: A Former Ace, having a down year

The Trade Deadline is on August first this year.  The Pirates still have a couple weeks to do their homework on several more candidates.  I also expect the Pittsburgh Pirates to sort through the bullpen market also.  With that it seems that adding a starting pitcher is the top priority and will get done in some fashion or another.

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Also deals do not have to only happen July 31st and August 1st.  Last year several players got dealt before the deadline.  Last year we saw the Pittsburgh Pirates acquire Aramis Ramirez on July 23rd.  If the right deal comes to fruition the Neal Huntington will get try to get it done sooner rather than later.

However, do not get overly excited.  The Pirates are going to do their due diligence on as many players as possible as the deadline approaches. Last year the Pirates scouted Clay Buchholtz and David Price, neither one of them ended up here.  Rumors are gong to swirl, do not get your heart set on a specific transaction.  Just look forward to the Pirates being on the buying side of things and looking to add.

Related Story: Moore on Matt Moore

Feel free to comment below on who you would like to see added!