Pittsburgh Pirates: Examining Potential Future for 3 Pitching Prospects

Miguel Yajure

Miguel Yajure, who was one of the four players acquired in the Jameson Taillon deal, made his first start of the year. He tossed four scoreless innings against the Washington Nationals, needing only 65 pitches to get the Nats out. He should have worked more with fewer pitches had it not been for some botched fielding chances.

But the start of the season wasn’t as clean for Yajure. In his first 10.1 innings of the season, he allowed 13 earned runs. Heck, even in his decent start against the Nats, he walked three without recording a strikeout. That’s a bit worrisome from someone who apparently has good command.

He’s been pretty mediocre at Triple-A this year as well. It’s only been 12.2 innings, but he’s allowed six earned runs with eight walks. Overall, the sample sizes we’re looking at are small. 10.1 innings, 12.2 innings, four innings, not much to really make any conclusive analysis on.

When he’s healthy, he’s a guy who can average out around 91-94 MPH with well above average command. He has a wide arsenal that includes a four-seamer, changeup, slider, curveball, sinker, and cutter. He has a pretty wide arsenal of pitches and a decent selection if he can lock down some command.

I’ve always been pretty high on Yajure, and I still think he can be a decent pitcher. If the Pittsburgh Pirates can, they should try and find regular starts for Yajure. It would be tough, especially if Mlodzinski or Nicolas keeps pitching the way they have, and the starters in the majors keep pitching well, but the Pirates might find two quality arms from the Taillon deal.