The Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they have claimed 27-year-old right-handed pitcher Jake Barrett from the San Francisco Giants. To make room on the 40-man roster, Chad Kuhl (pictured above) was placed on the 60-day injured list. Kuhl will miss all of 2019 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Barrett has pitched in the majors during each of the last three seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was a regular in their bullpen as a rookie in 2016, making 68 appearances, with a 3.49 ERA, a 4.14 FIP in 59.1 innings, with a 1.26 WHIP and 56 strikeouts. He saw just 35 total appearances the last two years and posted a 5.00 ERA in 27 innings in 2017 and 5.14 in seven innings last year.
Barrett had an impressive showing in Triple-A last year by posting a 2.87 ERA in 53.1 innings with Reno, which plays at an extremely hitter-friendly park in a hitter-friendly league. For reference, the team ERA was 5.18 last year and 5.19 the year before.
Baseball America rated Barrett as a top 30 prospect for the Diamodbacks for four years, topping out at #11 in 2013. He was throwing mid-to-high 90s at that time, with an above average slider and a changeup that needed work. His average fastball in the majors was 96 MPH during his first two years, then dropped to 94.6 last year. He’s had a heavy fastball/slider approach in the majors, rarely going to changeup. He has one minor league option left.
