The Pittsburgh Pirates have released Taiwanese pitcher Yao-Hsun Yang. The 31-year-old lefty had been pitching with the Altoona Curve this season. He joined the team in early June and pitched 11 times in relief, posting a 6.48 ERA over 16.2 innings. Yang has had control issues, allowing 18 walks and his most recent outing(six ER in 1.1 IP) was his worst of the season.
He has pitched in Japan and for Chinese Taipei in two World Baseball Classics. Yang signed with the Pirates in early February and was a Spring Training invite, but spent the first two months of the season in Extended Spring Training.
The Pirates also promoted Orlando Castro to Altoona earlier in the day. He takes the roster spot vacated by Yang.