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Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential Targets in Latest Richard Rodríguez Trade Rumors

ByVincent Spallone|
Jun 19, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Richard Rodriguez (48) gets a new ball after allowing a home run by Cleveland Indians batter Harold Ramirez (40) in the ninth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 19, 2021; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Richard Rodriguez (48) gets a new ball after allowing a home run by Cleveland Indians batter Harold Ramirez (40) in the ninth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-USA TODAY Sports
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Mar 3, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson (76) throws a pitch in the first inning against the New York Yankees during spring training during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 3, 2021; Tampa, Florida, USA; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Simeon Woods Richardson (76) throws a pitch in the first inning against the New York Yankees during spring training during spring training at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Simeon Woods Richardson

Simeon Woods Richardson is the best of the six total players that are on this list, which would also make him the hardest to get. Richardson is the Blue Jays’ 4th best prospect and was the 48th overall pick in the 2019 draft.

Richardson excels at keeping the ball in the ballpark, as he has only allowed 9 HRs in his 156.2 innings of work in the minors. Also he pretty good at limiting traffic on the basepaths as he carries a career WHIP of 1.1. Lastly, he’s good at getting punch outs as his K/9 in his 8 starts at Double-A this season is up to 13.8.

CJ Van Eyk

CJ Van Eyk is another prospect who has only a little bit of pro ball data as he was drafted 42nd overall in the 2020 draft. Van Eyk is ranked as the Blue Jays tenth-best prospect. He carries a four-pitch repertoire as he throws a fastball, slider, curveball, and a changeup. MLB Pipeline says that this year will be big for him and to expect his stock to rise as the Blue Jays will be graduating some top arms from their farm system.

So far this season, Van Eyk has been getting lit up as he carries a 2-2 record with a 5.84 ERA and a WHIP of 1.41 in 37 innings of work. Additionally, he has been taken deep three times but has a K/9 of 10.22. When all of this is taken into account, it makes Van Eyk more of a riskier prospect to take but he still has a great upside.

Adam Kloffenstein

The last prospect to look at is Adam Kloffenstein. Kloffenstein is Toronto’s ninth-best prospect just ahead of Van Eyk. Kloffenstein has the same four-pitch repertoire as Van Eyk but is seen as a bigger risk than Van Eyk as he has not been too good this season. In High-A he has a record of 2-3 with a 6.88 ERA and a WHIP of 1.82.

This is could just be attributed to not having a season last year and being rusty, as these numbers are nowhere near what he is accustomed to. Going back to his 2019 season in short A, he had a 4-4 record with a 2.24 ERA and a WHIP of 1.06. These numbers are more indicative of why he is a top ten prospect in the Jays farm, but his bad 2021 season can’t be ignored.

Due to having such a huge difference in his performance between the two seasons, Kloffenstein is a prospect who carries a very high risk, high reward style of prospect as he could end up being a bust or a future upper rotation kind of guy.

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