Pittsburgh Pirates News: Team Releases Two Players

The Pittsburgh Pirates are starting to determine what level their minor league players are going to go to for the start of the season. They released two interesting players.

With Spring Training quickly winding down, the Pittsburgh Pirates are starting to move players around their system.  The team has mainly been moving players from major league camp to minor league camp, but also some players have been moved to actual minor league affiliates.  With that being said, the Pittsburgh Pirates are starting to cut players as well.

The Pittsburgh Pirates released two players from their organization yesterday. According to Pirates Prospects, the team released veteran relief pitcher Robbie Ross Jr. and outfield prospect Edison Lantigua.  This was part of a series of cuts that included a total of 5 players being released by the organization.

The first player mentioned is reliever Robbie Ross Jr.  The Bucs picked up Ross a few weeks ago and immediately sent him to minor league camp.  The lefty previously pitched for the Boston Red Sox and was an integral part of their bullpen during the 2016 season.  However, in 2017 Ross struggled and ended up missing most of the season with back surgery.

After his surgery, the Sox announced that he was outrighted off their 40 man roster.  The Chicago White Sox claimed him and he rehabbed in their organization during the 2018 season.  He ended up becoming a minor league free agent this offseason and signed with the Bucs.

The team must not have liked what they saw from Ross in minor league camp and with him being released just 2 weeks later.  Maybe Ross did not seem to be as healthy as the team hoped or just in general maybe his stuff has not gotten back to what it once was a few years ago.

The Pittsburgh Pirates also released an outfield prospect by the name of Edison Lantigua.  This was somewhat surprising as Lantigua was a prospect who seemed to have some upside. Latingua was actually listed as a prospect to watch by FanGraphs.  The scouting report on the lefty-hitting outfielder suggests he has some power potential.  This is mainly because of a solid frame at 6’0” and 175 pounds.

Lantigua played in Short-Season A last season with the West Virginia Black Bears.  The now 22-year-old hit .277/.344/.426 (AVG, OBP, SLUG) with 17 extra base hits in 53 games.  However, the outfielder did strike out 57 times which gave him over 1 strikeout per game.  Against lower level competition this was not a positive thing to see and is likely one of the main reasons the team cut him. Another reason the Pirates Prospect brought up in the amount of outfield depth the team has in the lower minors.

All in all, the Pittsburgh Pirates cannot keep every player they acquire.  Sometimes the team has to let go of prospects because they do not project well going forward or because there are other prospects who need to play instead.  Also, with veterans, the Bucs are known for trying to give minor league veterans a better opportunity if they do not enivision them being able to give that player one.