Pirates may have found yet another diamond-in-the-rough reliever despite speed bump

There are a lot of things to criticize the Pittsburgh Pirates over. However, one thing they have figured out is pitching. The Pirates have consistently found relievers out of seemingly nowhere, from Dennis Santana being a waiver claim to Isaac Mattson coming out of the independent circuit. The Pirates may have just discovered their next diamond in the rough reliever, as Cam Sanders has shown off some impressive stuff in his brief time in the Major Leagues (though, yes, his five-run implosion in 1/3 of an inning on Sunday will cloud that view somewhat).

Sanders was originally a 2018 12th-round pick by the Chicago Cubs out of Louisiana State University. The right-hander never received much prospect pedigree, as MLB Pipeline never ranked him as a top 30 prospect in the Cubs’ system, and Baseball America only ranked him as the Cubs’ 28th best prospect in 2023. Sanders struggled badly in 2024, putting up a 5.83 ERA while walking 17.3% of opponents throughout 56 innings of work. He also walked more batters than he had innings pitched in 2023, with 69 free passes to 64.2 IP.

After the 2024 season, the Cubs let Sanders hit free agency. That is when the Pirates picked him up on a minor league contract. The right-hander then proceeded to have the best stretch of games he has had since he was drafted. In 42.1 innings of work, Sanders put up a 1.91 ERA, 2.95 FIP, and 0.97 WHIP. Sanders only allowed one home run while striking out 30.5% of the batters he faced. His 12% walk rate was still worse than the average, but was a massive improvement over what he put up in 2023 and 2024.

That strong performance between Altoona and Indianapolis has earned Sanders a recent call to the Major Leagues. The right-hander's fourth appearance was brutal, but in his first three, he made a strong first impression, going four frames without allowing an earned run, while only surrendering a single walk and striking out three opponents. He reportedly made a mechanical change, which has no doubt helped him out. The most promising part of his first look in the big leagues isn’t his performance, though, but rather his stuff. 

Could Pirates' Cam Sanders be another bullpen steal in Pittsburgh?

Sanders sits in the mid-90s with average movement to his heater. His slider is where we see the most change between 2024 and 2025. In 2024 at Triple-A, the pitch averaged out with 30.2 inches of downward movement and 1.4 inches of glove-side run. So far this year, it has averaged out at 36.7 inches of vertical drop and 3.6 inches of glove-side run. This increase in movement hasn’t come at the cost of velocity either, as he is sitting around 86-87 MPH, the same as he did in 2024. FanGraphs’ Stuff+ has him at an outstanding 112. If Sanders kept that up over an entire season, he would rank in the top 50 among relievers in Stuff+.

Yes, it is a small sample size of less than an entire game of innings pitched. But would it be all that surprising if Cam Sanders turned out to be another quality reliever for the Pirates? Over the last three seasons, they’ve found quality relief arms in the form of Ryan Borucki, Dauri Moreta, Dennis Santana, Chase Shugart, and Isaac Mattson. Sanders definitley has a chance to add to that list of relievers who broke out with the Pirates.