Players You Forgot the Pittsburgh Pirates Drafted: Part 3

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BRADENTON, FL – MARCH 09: Lonnie Chisenhall #5 of the Pittsburgh Pirates heads to the clubhouse during a Grapefruit League spring training game against the Minnesota Twins at LECOM Park on March 9, 2019 in Bradenton, Florida. The Twins won 10-1. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
BRADENTON, FL – MARCH 09: Lonnie Chisenhall #5 of the Pittsburgh Pirates heads to the clubhouse during a Grapefruit League spring training game against the Minnesota Twins at LECOM Park on March 9, 2019 in Bradenton, Florida. The Twins won 10-1. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

Lonnie Chisenhall

Hey, remember that guy the Pittsburgh Pirates signed last offseason who played a few spring training games, got injured, and was never heard from again? Well his name was Lonnie Chisenhall, and he was originally drafted by the Pirates in the 11th round of the 2006 MLB Draft.

Chisenhall chose not to sign with the Pirates and instead attended the University of South Carolina. He would then be selected by the Cleveland Indians in 1st round of the 2008 draft. Chisenhall looked like the Indians’ next star as he was putting up pretty good numbers throughout the minors. He even ranked as high as the 25th best prospect in baseball by Baseball America in 2010.

But like his Pirates tenure, his career was completely derailed by injuries.

Even though he made his debut in 2011, the corner infielder/outfielder reached 500 plate appearances in a season just once in eight different years. However, he was a pretty good bat when he was healthy. In his final 783 plate appearances of his career, Chisenhall posted a .291/.347/.468 line, and 111 OPS+. That was enough for the Pirates to decide to give him a contract, but we all know how that turned out. Chisenhall officially announced his retirement on February 23rd, 2020. Sadly, his career will go down as another one of the “what-if’s” in baseball history.