Pittsburgh Pirates Claim Pitcher Wei-Chung Wang

The Pittsburgh Pirates made an interesting pick up this weekend, grabbing a left-handed reliever from the Oakland A’s.  Let’s take a look at the new Bucco.

With the September roster expansion coming, the Pittsburgh Pirates could look at multiple players that could make an impact on the 2020 team.  Most of these players will come through the minor-league system, however the team also could look at external options.  This would include players that were cut or waived for any minor deals.  While there isn’t likely to be a future All-Star available at this time of year, there still could be a diamond in the rough to be found.

The Pittsburgh Pirates appear to already be looking for players to give a September tryout.  The Bucs picked up a lefty reliever off waivers yesterday, claiming Taiwanese pitcher Wei-Chung Wang off waivers from the Oakland Athletics.  Wang has spent time both starting and relieving in his big league career.

If Wang sounds familiar it’s because he started in the Pittsburgh Pirates system back in 2013 and looked to be an intriguing prospect.  Since then he has spent time with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Oakland Athletics, though Chang has spent more time in the minors than the bigs thus far.

This year with the Athletics he has thrown 27 innings in 20 games to a 3.33 ERA, although he has a FIP over 5.00.  He has only struck out 16 hitters and walked 11.  Still, he is just 27 years old and has shown enough in the minors for a reason to take a flyer on him, including being a lefty.

Wang will likely get a roster spot on the Bucs the rest of the season  The MLB expands rosters in September so there will be plenty of room for him to eat up some innings out of the bullpen. With Francisco Liriano set to hit free agency, the team could be looking at Chang as a potential replacement.