The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed catcher Ali Sanchez from the Detroit Tigers and pitcher Beau Sulser from the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. To open up the one needed spot on the 40-man roster, catcher Jose Godoy was designated for assignment.
Sanchez is 25 years old, with two partial seasons in the majors, but he spent the entire 2022 season in Triple-A, hitting .262/.354//.389 in 74 games. His big league time consists of five games with the 2020 New York Mets and two games with the 2021 St Louis Cardinals. He has a devilishly mediocre .666 OPS in eight seasons in the minors.
The 28-year-old Sulser should be familiar to everyone here. He began 2022 with the Pirates before being lost on waivers to the Orioles. He combined between both stops for a 3.63 ERA in 22.1 innings over ten appearances, with a 4.50 FIP, 1.48 WHIP and 19 strikeouts. This season was his first big league experience.
Godoy went 1-for-17 with a single and no walks in his eight games with the Pirates. He was 0-for-3 with the Minnesota Twins before joining the Pirates.
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.
Sanchez overlapped with Endy in the Mets system
As recently as 2020, he was the higher rated prospect
20-grade power but excellent defensive skills per BA
The new rules should favor this type of player- limits the run game and consistently puts the ball in play
This is prob just a depth move, both guys will likely be designated, waived, then reassigned in the next month just before rule 5 roster setting.
any update on Eckelman’s progress with the knuckleball?
Man I hope they found another Wakefield. Or even a Holdzkom.
They’ll have to re-sign him first. He’s a FA this fall.
Well, they went to the trouble of guiding him through the lower levels to throw the knuckler in his last season before minor league free agency, I would think their interest in retaining him is there. And for Eckelman, it’s the only franchise he’s ever known, and I imagine he’d have the same shot (no better, no worse) to make it in any of the other 29 systems, so maybe familiarity and comfort reign?
In fairness Sanchez was the Cardinals #26 ranked prospect last year. Delay and heineman have never been ranked.
Longrnhagen said he’s a number #3 catcher worth a 40 man spot. Now we just need a 1&2
Considering that this is the guy who the Tigers decided was better, I’m not so sure they have their #3 catcher yet https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/papiemi01.shtml
The start of a big push to reach the magical 99 loss barrier.
It’s going to be another long off season…..
Not if you quit paying attention after Labor Day
And so another year of flying in ever decreasing circles begins unceremoniously.
Off-season shopping list done, ready for ST!
Just warming up….They out there I can feel it!
So the accumulation of Quad-A catchers and relief pitchers continues. The guy just can’t stop himself.
(and FWIW, I like Sulser, but let’s be honest, he’s the 9th man in an 8-man bullpen).
Quad A catchers will be dwindling as they dump a few for 40man spots. Most every team not still playing is doing the same piddling stuff right now.
#69 is back!!!
I got excited about Sanchez’s CS% at first as it’s 44% over his MiLB career. Then I looked at Godoy’s and his is 42%. So, it seems lateral at best.
3 years younger. New depth till Endy 🙂
That faint thumping noise emanating from the north of you is me pounding the table for Endy 🙂