After winning his first big league start on Sunday, Casey Sadler is headed back to Indianapolis. The Pittsburgh Pirates have reinstated Francisco Liriano from the paternity list and Sadler was optioned to Indianapolis. Liriano is scheduled to start Wednesday night against the Detroit Tigers. Sadler threw five innings in his spot start, allowing two runs on four hits and one walk, while striking out five batters. He will now join the rotation in Indianapolis and will be the top starting depth option early in the season.
Francisco Liriano Reinstated From Paternity List, Sadler Optioned to Indianapolis
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball.
When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.