The Pittsburgh Pirates have claimed left-handed pitcher Bobby LaFromboise (“lah-frahm-BOYCE”) off waivers from the San Diego Padres, according to a team press release. They have designated Tommy Field for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
LaFromboise has 10.2 career innings in the majors, all coming with Seattle last year at the age of 27. In that time he had a 5.91 ERA, a 9.3 K/9, and a 3.4 BB/9. He was selected off waivers by San Diego from Seattle earlier this year. In 53 innings at the Triple-A level, LaFromboise has a 4.75 ERA, a 7.6 K/9, and a 3.6 BB/9. He mostly works off deception, with a fastball that tops out in the low 90s, but usually sits in the upper 80s. He’s a sidearm pitcher who gets a lot of movement on the fastball, and works a lot with his off-speed stuff. The Pirates could use him as a third lefty in the bullpen and a situational guy in September.
Overall, this is just another in what is becoming a long-line of waiver claims by the Pirates. They designated Tommy Field for assignment, a few weeks after he was claimed from the Angels. My guess is that the overall goal here is to claim players, then try to have them slip through waivers when the next claim comes along.
