Pittsburgh Pirates: Five More Surprising Ex-Players Still Active

Pittsburgh Pirates history is full of obscure players. However, many of them are still active in professional baseball today despite not playing in MLB.

Last month, we took a look at ten former Pittsburgh Pirates who are surprisingly still active in professional baseball. There are plenty of other relatively obscure Pittsburgh Pirates players still out there. Many of which haven’t appeared in the major leagues for a handful of seasons.

Today, we’re going to take a look at five of those players. Most of these guys have played in the majors very sparingly, if at all, over the past handful of seasons. However, to find guys who served as depth for major league teams is still interesting to see. They’re keeping the dream of playing baseball as a profession, even if it’s not with a Major League team or one of their affiliates.

Wilfredo Boscan

Wilfredo Boscan was pretty much a career minor leaguer when he made his debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2016. He made his pro debut back in 2007 as a 17-year-old Venezuelan with the Texas Rangers. While he pitched solid throughout the minors, he never reached top prospect status. He played with the San Diego Padres and Boston Red Sox systems before getting to Pittsburgh, but never gained much traction.

Boscan posted pretty good numbers at Triple-A Indianapolis in 2015 and then got off to a hot start in 2016. That’s when the Pirates called him to the majors and he seemed to be a pretty solid multi-inning bullpen arm. His first 9 innings yielded just 2 earned runs, 1 walk, and 5 K’s. However, after 2 poor outings, Boscan was sent back to the minor leagues.

Boscan struggled down the line at Indianapolis and was eventually released by the team. Then, he was signed by the Atlanta Braves. Boscan was released by the Braves in early September and then was picked up by the New York Mets as a depth right-hander for the 2017 campaign.

But this was his last season with a major league-affiliated team. Boscan pitched in the Venezuelan and Mexican Leagues for the next handful of seasons. This past season, he pitched 48 innings with the Tigres De Quintana Roo of the Mexican League, and Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan league. All told, he had a 3.75 ERA while only allowing a single home run. But he struck out just 29 while giving up 18 free passes.

Kyle Lobstein

Kyle Lobstein was a second-round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008. After bouncing around with the New York Mets and then the Detroit Tigers, the Pirates purchased his contract from the Tigers in the 2015-2016 off-season. Between 2014 and 2015, he pitched 103 innings with the Tigers, only posting a 5.33 ERA, 4.33 FIP, and 1.456 WHIP.

Lobstein was brought in to serve as a long relief man. After all, he did start 17 of his 20 outings. Lobstein pitched 25 innings in 14 games. While he did have a solid 3.96 ERA, Lobstein had a poor 4.67 FIP and 1.48 WHIP. He allowed just 2 home runs, but walked 12 and struck out 15.

The Pirates sent him to the Baltimore Orioles at the August waiver deadline for another minor league pitcher, Zach Phillips. But he wouldn’t play a game in an Orioles uniform. In fact, he wouldn’t appear with any major league team for 4 seasons. He bounced around the minor leagues with the Orioles, Marlins, Dodgers, and Athletics before landing with the Milwaukee Brewers and Washington Nationals this year.

After posting solid numbers with the Nats’ and Brew Crews’ Triple-A affiliates, the Nationals promoted Lobstein to the big leagues for the first time since his last appearance with the Pirates in 2016. He only managed 4 outs in 3 outings and surrendered 3 earned runs.

Vin Mazzaro

Vin Mazzaro was a small-time acquisition by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2012-2013 offseason. Mazzaro was a fairly underwhelming swing-man type pitcher for the Oakland Athletics and Kansas City Royals from 2009 through 2012. He pitched 286 innings, posting a 5.22 ERA, 5.01 FIP, and 1.622 WHIP. He surrendered 38 home runs while only having a 9.5% walk rate, and a poor 13.5% strikeout rate.

The Pirates swapped Mazzaro, along with Clint Robinson for Luis Roco and Luis Santos. The right-hander was brought in to serve a similar role, as a long-relief man. He did just that and then some. Mazzaro became an integral part of the Pirate 2013 bullpen.

In 73.2 innings, Mazzaro pitched to the tune of a strong 2.58 ERA, 3.31 FIP, and 1.208 WHIP. Mazzaro only had a 15.1% strikeout rate, but lowered his walk rate to 6.9% and kept an HR/9 below .5, .37 to be exact. 15 of his outings lasted at least 2 innings, but he ended up pitching in higher-leverage roles as the season went on.

However, despite this strong season, the Pirates essentially moved on from Mazzaro. He only pitched in 10.1 innings with the Bucs, all coming in 2014. He also tossed 13 innings with the Miami Marlins in 2015 and San Francisco Giants in 2016. But that was the end of his time in the major leagues, at least so far.

Since 2017, Mazzaro has pitched in the indy leagues. Last year, he pitched 41 innings with the Atlantic League’s Long Island Ducks. However, he pitched poorly allowing 35 earned runs,35 walks, and only 21 strikeouts. Plus he allowed 5 home runs.

Mazzaro’s departure from the Pirates was a bit strange. After pitching extremely well in 2013, the team essentially completely moved on from him one year later. While it’s not to say that he should have taken over the closer’s role, the Bucs could have slotted him in as a long-relief man as he served in 2013.

Brandon Cumpton

Brandon Cumpton was a right-handed pitcher the Pirates drafted in the 9th round of the 2010 draft. After climbing his way throughout the minor leagues, Cumpton made his debut in 2013 and was pretty solid in his first look in the majors. He pitched 30.2 innings, starting 5 of the 6 games he played in. The right-hander only allowed 7 earned runs with just 5 walks. Sure he only had 22 K’s, but also allowed a single long ball.

Cumpton spent the 2014 season as a swingman pitcher, starting 10 of the 16 games he appeared in. While he had a 4.89 ERA in 70 innings pitched, he allowed just 2 long balls, 18 walks, and 46 K’s. He still had a solid 3.22 FIP.

However, a 2015 Tommy John surgery kept him out of the next two seasons. He returned in 2017 to professional play but didn’t appear in the majors for the Pirates. After 2017, he was released and was signed by the Texas Rangers. But his stint wouldn’t last long as he would get released again, this time in Spring Training. The last MLB team Cumpton would play for is the Toronto Blue Jays. In 2018, he pitched 1.2 innings in the majors for the Jays but was let go after the season.

Since then, the right-hander has pitched in the Dominican Winter League, Mexican League, Atlantic League, and American Association. In 2021, Cumpton pitched 46.1 innings in the Mexican League, but gave up 41 earned runs and had a WHIP just a tick below 2.0 at 1.99.

Brandon Cumpton had a pretty promising start to his career. He looked like he could be a back-of-the-rotation type starter or swingman for the Pirates for a handful of seasons. But a poorly timed Tommy John surgery and other injuries led to a downfall for the former Pirate.