Pittsburgh Pirates: Three 40-Man Roster Moves That Need Made

Remove Aaron Fletcher

The Pittsburgh Pirates acquired left-handed reliever, Aaron Fletcher from the Seattle Mariners this past offseason. While the southpaw was on the team’s Opening Day roster, it wouldn’t take long for the Bucs to option Fletch back to Triple-A. Fletcher surrendered nine earned runs in just 8.2 innings of work. Of the nine hits he gave up, two were home runs. It also didn’t help he allowed three free passes.

Fletcher was optioned on May 2nd, and although he has been recalled twice, he hasn’t appeared in a game since April 29th. He’s pitched 14.2 innings, posting a 1.42 ERA at Triple-A, but that ERA is deceiving. He’s allowed 15 hits and has struck out just six batters. Plus, he’s issued five walks. Low strikeout totals plus a decent amount of hits doesn’t bode well.

Add Tyler Samaniego

Replacing Fletcher should be lefty relief prospect Tyler Samaniego. Samaniego was a late-round draft pick from last season. He was picked in the 15th round and has excelled so far in his pro career. In 23.2 innings of work, Samaniego has a 2.10 ERA, 2.87 FIP, and 0.86 WHIP. All he does is get strikeouts and ground balls, having a 36.0% strikeout rate and 64.3% ground ball rate. Samaniego does have a 12.0% walk rate, but his overall numbers are deceiving.

Although Samaniego has given up six earned runs all season, five came in just one outing. That one outing is also the lone game he surrendered a home run in. Since that outing, he’s pitched three innings striking out five batters, and only allowed three to reach via a base hit. Since receiving his promotion to Double-A Altoona, Samaniego cut his walk rate from 16.2% to 3.1%. It is a small sample size of just 8.2 innings, but he’s been better at limiting walks nonetheless.