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10 Former Pittsburgh Pirates You Didn’t Know Were Still Playing

By Noah Wright

PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 10: Travis Snider #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates can't catch a ball hit by Tommy Medica #14 of the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning of their game on August 10, 2014 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Padres defeated the Pirates 8-2. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 10: Travis Snider #23 of the Pittsburgh Pirates can't catch a ball hit by Tommy Medica #14 of the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning of their game on August 10, 2014 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Padres defeated the Pirates 8-2. (Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images) /
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SAN FRANCISCO – SEPTEMBER 7: Romulo Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California on September 7, 2008. The Giants defeated the Pirates 11-6. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO – SEPTEMBER 7: Romulo Sanchez of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches during the game against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park in San Francisco, California on September 7, 2008. The Giants defeated the Pirates 11-6. (Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /

Pitcher Romulo Sanchez

If you want to get obscure, it doesn’t get more obscure than Romulo Sanchez. Sanchez signed way back with the Los Angeles Dodgers almost 20 years ago, on March 8th, 2002. He was released a few years later and that’s when the Pirates picked him up on May 7th, 2004.

Romulo eventually made his way up through the system and made his debut on August 26th, 2007, the furthest back name I could find while writing this article. Sanchez only pitched a grand total of 31.1 innings with the Pirates between 2007 and 2008, working just a 4.60 ERA, 4.66 FIP, and 1.404 WHIP. He walked exactly the same amount of batters as he struck out (14) and gave up 2 home runs.

During 2009, he was traded to the New York Yankees for Eric Hacker. Sanchez would spend the next few seasons in the Yankees organization, but only 4.1 scoreless innings in the major leagues on September 25th, 2010. After that, he was DFA’d during spring training the next season. After a season spent overseas in Japan, Sanchez returned to the US to play the 2012 season with the Tampa Bay Rays Triple-A team.

Sanchez has played a little bit of everywhere since. He played a little in China, a few innings in Italy, but mainly pitching in the Venezuelan Winter League. That’s where he’s still pitching. In 10.2 innings with the Aguilas del Zulia, Sanchez has only allowed 4 earned runs but has walked 7 and only has 2 strikeouts.

As much as we see some guys and see their careers as failed MLB players, this guy has traveled the world, going from the United States, playing with the Yankees, pitching in Japan, China, Venezuela, and Italy, and doing it all while getting paid to play professional baseball. While Romulo Sanchez might be as obscure as it gets, he’s keeping his dream alive.

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