The Pittsburgh Pirates have made a bunch of minor moves in the farm system, with the biggest one occurring today when they released pitcher Brandon Mann and assigned reliever Ryan Beckman to the Altoona Curve.
Mann was a free agent signing over the off-season. He had pitched well, but he is already 30 years old and pitching in AA, so he was mostly just being used as an innings eater. In 14 appearances, he had a 2.91 ERA over 34 innings, with 34 strikeouts.
Beckman hasn’t pitched since May 10th and he was having a tough time with Altoona before being transferred to the Jamestown roster. In 13 appearances, he has a 5.27 ERA in 13.2 innings, with 14 hits, five walks and five strikeouts. His 1.83 GO/AO ratio is impressive and something that he has excelled at during his career.
Other moves that occurred recently include pitcher Kenn Kasparek being assigned to Indianapolis. He has been used sparingly this season, moving between Altoona, Indianapolis and the Jamestown roster, filling in when needed. Kasparek has thrown just 5.1 innings over four appearances.
When Tony Sanchez was sent back to AAA last week, it triggered a whole set of catcher moves that took five days to play out. Ralph Henriquez was sent from Indianapolis to Altoona. Kawika Emsley-Pai was moved from Altoona to West Virginia and Francisco Diaz was the final move when he was transferred to the Jamestown roster yesterday.
Cody Eppley was added back to the Indianapolis bullpen when Phil Irwin was designated for assignment.
Candon Myles was activated off the West Virginia disabled list and Adam Landecker was assigned to the Jamestown roster.
The Pirates also released eight players from the DSL roster. Read more on that move here.
