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Pittsburgh Pirates News: Team Adds Pitching Depth

By Vincent Spallone

Jun 28, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff (43) pitches against the Washington Nationals in the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 28, 2021; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff (43) pitches against the Washington Nationals in the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports /
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On Monday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates added to their pitching depth by signing righty Jerad Eickhoff to a minor league deal.

Monday afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates continued their yearly tradition of signing low-risk pitchers to help boost their starting rotation and could, in turn, be flipped for prospects at the trade deadline.

Last week the Pittsburgh Pirates started off picking up pitchers when they signed José Quintana to a one-year deal, then continued the trend by signing the 31-year-old righty Jerad Eickhoff to a deal on Monday afternoon.

Eickhoff’s deal is currently slated to be a minor league deal, but with the current state of the Pirate rotation, he may very well be able to work his way into a starting rotation job with good outings in Spring Training.

That could also hinge on what Spring Training looks due to the imminent lockout that is coming when the current CBA expires on Wednesday and there is no new deal that will be made by then.

Eickhoff is coming off of a rough 2021 season, as he only appeared in five games with the Mets and carried a record of 0-2 with an ERA of 8.69. He certainly will be looking to put 2021 in the past and try to get back to his normal numbers that he posted during his five-year tenure with the Phillies.

Eickoff pitched for the Phillies from 2015-2019 and during that time he appeared in 85 games, 80 starts, and posted a more respectable ERA of 4.15 compared to his 8.69 from last season. The main thing that Eickhoff will need to work on here in  Pittsburgh will be his ability to limit the long ball, as he has allowed 79 in his 85 games, and 9 of those coming in his 5 games last year, which really hurt his ERA.

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This deal being a minor league deal for a struggling pitcher makes it interesting to watch and see if Eickhoff will be able to turn his career around or not from his poor 2021, since it is a deal that carries such a low risk, yet could have a nice reward if he can limit the home run numbers.

There is still plenty of time left in the off-season for more moves to develop, so stay tuned here at Rum Bunter for all of your up-to-date news and analysis on any more moves that the Pirates make.

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