The Pirates picked up pitcher Virgil Vasquez on waivers today, adding him to the 40-man roster. Vasquez has bounced around between a couple of organizations since last season, and appears to just be depth for the rotation and bullpen. The injury questions of Jeff Karstens and Phil Dumatrait probably contributed to this addition.
Vasquez doesn’t strike out many batters, but has posted some low walk totals. He had a 4.87 FIP and a 5.22 tRA in 27 starts for Triple-A Toledo in 2008. CHONE projects him to have a 5.56 major league FIP in 2009. That’s not good, but it would be better than John Van Benschoten.
