Pittsburgh Pirates News: José Quintana Signing Made Official

Monday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates made their recent signing of veteran left-handed starting pitcher José Quintana official and designated Steven Brault for assignment

Last week news broke that the Pittsburgh Pirates had come to an agreement with veteran left-handed starting pitcher José Quintana. However, this move had yet to be made official by the Pirates as it was pending a physical by Quintana.

The signing of Quintana has now been made official by the Pittsburgh Pirates. Prior to this the team’s 40-man roster was full. To make room for Quintana on the 40-man roster fellow veteran left-handed pitcher Steven Brault has been designated for assignment.

Quintana is coming off a season in which he posted a 6.43 ERA, 4.66 FIP, 11.8% walk rate and a 28.6% strikeout rate in 63 innings pitched. These 63 innings were split between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

Quintana pitched in 29 games in 2021, 10 of which were starts. In Quintana’s MLB career he has pitched in 283 games with 257 of them being starts. He will pitch out of the starting rotation for the Pirates.

Ben Cherington released a statement after the signing was made official. Cherington stated that “José brings a veteran presence and, as a left-hander, some balance to our starting rotation.”

As for Brault, him being designated for assignment does not come as a huge surprise. Due to his injury issues he was a candidate to be non-tendered by the Pirates before Tuesday’s non-tender deadline.

During his six seasons in the Majors the 29-year-old Brault pitched in 107 games for the Pirates, 52 of which were starts. Brault posted a 4.77 ERA, 4.67 FIP, 11.3% walk rate and an 18.8% strikeout rate during his time with the Pirates.

The past two seasons the COVID-19 shortened season and injuries have limited Brault to just 18 outings. 17 of these 18 outings were starts, and Brault has pitched just 70.1 innings across these two seasons.