Pirates Prospects has learned that Bradenton right-handed pitcher Dario Agrazal will be promoted to Altoona after the Florida State League All-Star break. Agrazal started last night’s game for Bradenton, so he won’t be available to Altoona until Tuesday at the earliest. Expect him to be added to the active roster on the day that he is scheduled to make his first start.
Agrazal has pitched terrific this season and just added strikeouts to his game. He has always been a pitch-to-contact guy, working down in the zone and pitching to both sides of the plate. He’s been excellent at getting ground balls, but was never a big strikeout pitcher until last month. In his last seven starts, he has picked up at least six strikeouts in six of those games.
After signing as a pitcher who sat 87-91 all the time, Agrazal has bumped that up each of the last three years. He currently sits 95-96, touching 97 MPH this season. He didn’t lose any of his plus command while increasing his velocity and he still gets a lot of grounders. He pairs that fastball with a sharp breaking, hard curve in the mid-80s and a changeup that shows nice separation from his fastball.
In 80.1 innings this season, he has a 2.91 ERA, with a 63:10 SO/BB ratio, a .243 BAA, a 1.03 WHIP and a 1.93 GO/AO ratio.
