Pirates sign former rival reliever who made valuable jump in 2025

The Pittsburgh Pirates need to perform a major makeover on their roster to get out of fifth place, mainly involving their league-worst offense. While we wait on them to make an effort in that department, they have stayed active in replenishing their minor league depth. They signed Jarod Bayless to a minor league deal already, and now they are reportedly bringing in Joe La Sorsa on the same terms.

La Sorsa hasn't pitched in the big leagues very much in his career, and his results explain his lack of MLB reps. He was about average in 2023 with Washington, posting a 4.41 ERA with a 4.11 FIP and a 7.71 K/9 across 32.2 innings. Then in 2024, he put together a 4.58 ERA, but the total picture still wasn't pretty, with a 2.04 HR/9 and a 5.54 FIP. That leads to 2025, where he tossed just 6.2 innings with the Reds and generated a 10.80 ERA.

While he had his worst major league stint in his career in 2025, there were some positive signs to take away that could help him figure things out in Pittsburgh's pitching lab.

Pirates take chance on former Reds project Joe La Sorsa, who added a significant tool to his arsenal.

When La Sorsa found success in 2023 and 2024, his sinker was 86-88 MPH. Then in 2025, it leapt up to 92 MPH. It's odd his surface numbers got worse with the increased velocity, but if the Pirates can figure him out, that improved pitch could make him a tougher hurler to face. The Pirates have also done really well with soft-tossing southpaws in recent years, and even without Oscar Marin this year, there is still reason to believe this lab can fix him up.

The Pirates don't have very much left-handed pitching depth in the organization, so this really is an important signing. The only southpaws on the 40 man-roster are Evan Sisk and Hunter Barco, and both might begin the seasn at Triple-A. While it is unlikely La Sorsa cracks the 40-man out of spring training, adding an extra arm that could jump into the major league bullpen is really valuable.

This offseason has been somewhat slow so far. The Pirates really need to get going here soon before they miss out on all the affordable players.