The Pittsburgh Pirates released right-handed pitcher Austin Coley on Tuesday afternoon. They also placed left-handed pitcher Sean Keselica on the 7-day injured list at Indianapolis. Shortstop Cole Tucker returned to the Indianapolis roster and is available tonight.
Coley was an eighth round pick in 2014, who broke into the back-end of our top 50 prospects list at the peak of his minor league career, but he has been sidetracked by multiple injuries during the last two seasons. During his 2017 season in Altoona, it appeared that he had a chance to make it as a middle reliever in the majors, as he was having success in the starting role all season, posting a 3.01 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 143.2 innings with Altoona.
Since the start of 2018, he has pitched just 78 innings, spending about half of both 2018-19 on the injured list with three separate injuries, the most significant of which ended last year early and had him Extended Spring Training through late May. He was just mentioned this morning as an upcoming Rule 5 eligible player (I’ve taken him off the list to keep a running update for future reference). He had a 4.07 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP in 27.1 innings with Altoona this year and last pitched in July.
Keselica is also mentioned in that Rule 5 article. He has a 3.69 ERA in 61 innings this season, though that also comes with a 1.59 WHIP and 39 walks. He’s spent most of the season in Indianapolis, after a brief stint in Altoona. His injury was announced as a left shoulder strain.
If there are any other minor moves today, we will add them here.