The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed left-handed pitcher Aaron Fletcher off of waivers from the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. The 26-year-old has pitched small parts of two seasons in the majors, struggling in both trials. He had a 3.23 WHIP and a 12.46 ERA in 4.1 innings over six appearances in 2020, then allowed five runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings over four games in 2021.
Fletcher was originally a 14th round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2018, who the Mariners acquired during the 2019 season. He had a lot of success in the Arizona Fall League after the 2019 season, throwing 9.1 shutout innings over eight games, with one walk and 15 strikeouts. Baseball America rated him as the 22nd best prospect for the Mariners going into 2020, saying he had reliever upside due to a fastball that got up to 96 MPH from a deceptive delivery, with a fringe slider and a changeup as his third pitch. He did well in the old Pacific Coast League in 2021 with Tacoma, a tough park for pitchers in a league that is already hitter-friendly. Fletcher had a 3.65 ERA in 49.1 innings, with a 1.36 WHIP and a 14:45 BB/SO ratio.
