Pirates Prospects has learned that the Pittsburgh Pirates released right-handed pitcher Angel Sanchez on Monday. Sanchez, who turns 28 tomorrow, made his big league debut with the Pirates this August and appeared in eight games out of the bullpen. He had an 8.76 ERA and a 1.38 WHIP in 12.1 innings, with ten strikeouts.
Sanchez was originally acquired off waivers on July 31, 2014 from the Chicago White Sox. He made great strides in 2015, then was injured late in the season when it appeared he could be a September call-up. He ended up having Tommy John surgery and missed the entire 2016 season. He returned during Spring Training this year and was showing 95-96 MPH velocity, which was higher than before his injury. Sanchez was inconsistent with Indianapolis and was a somewhat surprising call-up at the time because he was not on the radar at the time.
He has already been dropped from the 40-man roster before, and released prior to re-signing with the Pirates in early 2016, so the Pirates would have lost him to free agency if he was designated for assignment. I wouldn’t rule out him re-signing as a minor league free agent. (Just saw a tweet indicating he is signing to play in Korea, so that explains why he was let go instead of DFA’d).
The 40-man roster is now at 38. Earlier today, the Pirates picked up left-handed pitcher Sam Moll off waivers from the Oakland A’s.
** The Pirates re-signed minor league free agent Alfredo Reyes, who spent the 2017 season with Bradenton. He played multiple positions and displayed an above average arm, strong defense at shortstop and plus speed, but he has never hit at any level during his seven seasons of pro ball. He is a .232/.289/.296 hitter over 506 career games.
