5 Pittsburgh Pirates prospects whose careers were derailed by injuries

Miguel Yajure

Another one of the first big trades the Pirates made heading into the rebuild was sending right-hander Jameson Taillon to the New York Yankees. Arguably the headliner of that deal was right-hander Miguel Yajure, who was one of the most promising prospects in the Yankees' system at the time. Unfortunately, injuries that befell him after being acquired by the Pirates seemed to put a dent in his stuff and command to the point where Pittsburgh decided to move on.

Yajure had an outstanding 2019 season in the Yankees’ system. He pitched 138.2 innings while working to a 2.14 ERA, 2.65 FIP, and 1.07 WHIP. He had a 23.9% strikeout rate, but a walk rate of just 5.4%, as well as an 0.32 HR/9 rate. Yajure wasn’t just one of the best Yankees pitching prospects, but one of the best minor-league pitchers altogether. There were 436 minor league arms who threw at least 100 innings in 2019. Yajure had the 10th-best ERA and the 11th-best FIP. He also ranked in the top 50 in K:BB ratio and HR/9 rate.

Yajure even made his MLB debut late into the season in pinstripes, but only pitched seven innings. Yajure first pitched in a Pirates uniform during April 2021, where he tossed 4.1 innings but allowed four earned runs against the Detroit Tigers. But once the minor league season started up in May, Yajure got off to a solid start, allowing two earned runs with 11 Ks and just two walks in his first 12 innings. The Pirates recalled him again for another start, and this time he pitched five shutout innings against a San Francisco Giants team that would go on to win more than 100 games that year.

But after getting sent back to Triple-A, Yajure struggled mightily in late May and was placed on the IL with a forearm and elbow injury. He didn't return to action until August. While he still pitched decently after the injury, owning a 3.23 ERA, 22.2% K%, and 7.1% walk rate, he was allowing far more home runs, surrendering them at a clip of 1.47 HR/9. The Pirates opted to recall him to the bigs in late September, but he allowed 10 earned runs in just 5.1 innings. 

Over the offseason, Yajure suffered another back injury that kept him from pitching in the Arizona Fall League. Although Yajure would open the year with the Pirates in 2022, the results were quite worrying. He allowed 13 earned runs in just 10.1 innings, walking (six) more batters than he struck out (four). He was then sent down to Triple-A, but the issues continued, as he pitched to a 6.09 ERA, 4.61 FIP, and 1.50 WHIP in 54.2 innings. After once posting a walk rate hovering around 5%, he now had a 13.4% BB% to match his 13.4% K%. The Bucs gave him one more chance late into the year, but the results weren’t any better. During that offseason, the Pirates designated Yajure for assignment.

If Yajure could have stayed healthy, he could have been another future long-term rotation anchor for the Pirates. Instead, he represents another unfortunate casualty of injuries. A once-budding young arm with plenty of potential got derailed and never could seem to find what had once made him a top-100 prospect. He lost a good portion of his command after his back and elbow/forearm injury.