Pittsburgh Pirates: Making the Case for Miguel Yajure to Remain in the Rotation

Following an outing where he pitched better than the results there is a case to be made for the Pittsburgh Pirates to keep Miguel Yajure in their starting rotation

Yes, it was the Detroit Tigers who are not the most prolific of offenses this season. Yes, the final line is a bit of an eyesore (4.1 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 HR, 4 Ks) but for any fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates watching Miguel Yajure’s first appearance with the team there was a sense of excitement. But how should they handle him going forward?

I came away very impressed that the 23-year-old was able to (mostly) effectively use his five-pitch arsenal, and he turned in as strong of a 4 innings as we have seen from any Pirate starter this season. According to Baseball Savant while his fastball averaged 90 MPH Yajure is more of a finesse pitcher, and it was impressive to see the 23-year old rack up 3 strikeouts on a nasty curveball that had several Tiger players chasing badly. In fact, Yajure didn’t allow a hit on either of his breaking pitches which sat around 79mph. Mixing a cutter and changeup that sat in the mid to high 80s kept Tigers hitters guessing the first time through the lineup.

As the final line states, there were a few hiccups. He hung a pair of fastballs that were crushed for home runs and was visibly more tired as he went into the 5th inning where he was hit harder and was pulled after recording just 1 out and throwing 60 pitches. This effort was all from a guy who had thrown a combined 18 innings in the majors and minors from 2019-2020.

So, what should the Pittsburgh Pirates do here?

So far, the rotation has been a bit of a mixed bag with JT Brubaker and Tyler Anderson being the surprise standouts. Chad Kuhl hit the IL which opens the door for Yajure to make additional starts. I know Yajure has not pitched above Double-A and has minor league options left but I think it would be a savvy move to let Yajure work as an extended opener – for the rest of the season as long as he performs.

Even when Kuhl returns from the IL the Pirates have no reason not to give Yajure 4 innings of work every week and see if he can build on that. It would be disappointing to see him sent back to the alternate training site when he clearly has the stuff to beat Major League pitchers, but just lacks experience. Lets see if they can make the Jameson Taillon trade start to pay off already.