Pittsburgh Pirates to Promote Six Players from Triple-A

The Pittsburgh Pirates are set to make a flurry of roster moves on Sunday

Now that the season is over for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, the Pittsburgh Pirates plan to promote six of their players to the Major Leagues. According to BRian Peloza of Pirates Prospects these six players are Johnny Barbato, Tyler Glasnow, Jack Leathersich, Dan Runzler, Edgar Santana, and Jacob Stallings. All of these players have had Major League time previously this season.

All of these players have had Major League time previously this season with the Pittsburgh Pirates except Jack Leathersich. The Pirates claimed Leathersich off waivers from the Cubs earlier this month and he has pitched in the Majors for the Cubs this season.

With his return to the Major Leagues Tyler Glasnow will return to the Pirate rotation. After posting a 7.45 ERA, 5.89 FIP, and 5.16 xFIP in 54 1/3 innings pitched for the Pirates this season Glasnow dominated at Triple-A. In 93 1/3 innings pitched for the Indians he averaged 13.50 K/9, a career-low 3.09 BB/9, he allowed just 57 hits, and he posted a 1.93 ERA and a 2.23 FIP.

If Tyler Glasnow can put together some strong starts before the end of the season to show the changes he has made at Triple-A can get outs at the Major League level as well then it is very possible he could start the 2018 season the same place he started the 2017 season – in the Pirates’ starting rotation.

Another intriguing arm is Jack Leathersich. Leathersich is a power lefty pitcher that gets a lot of strikeouts but also walks a lot of batters. At Triple-A this season Leathersich averaged 14.62 K/9, however, he also averaged 5.68 BB/9. It will be up to Ray Searage to help Leathersich reign in his control.

Edgar Santana will be fun to watch as well. Despite struggling in the Majors this season – 6.52 ERA, 5.11 FIP, 5.59 BB/9, and 1.89 HR/9 – he has dynamite stuff. This stuff has been demonstrated by his 14 strikeouts he recorded in 9 2/3 innings pitched for the Pirates this season. Santana has also been victimized by an unsustainably high .417 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) this season. As Santana’s BABIP regresses to the norm (.300) and his control improves he should be a great Major League reliever.

This will be the first trip to the Major Leagues for Dan Runzler since 2012. The left-handed reliever averaged 7.84 K/9 and 4.79 BB/9 in 41 1/3 innings pitched at Triple-A this season. His promotion is the most puzzling one.

Neither Johnny Barbato nor Jacob Stallings are more than just organizational filler players. However, they will give the Pirates extra bodies the rest of the way that could be used in games that get out of hand or go multiple extra innings.

Next: Curve to Play for the Eastern League Championship

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have an expanded roster over the course of the final 19 games of the season. Hopefully, the Pirates will continue to give young players an extended look this month in preparation for the 2018 season.