The Pittsburgh Pirates have a lefty problem on their 40-man roster, both on offense and defense. When it comes to offense, they have more lefty hitters than they can count, with another added on Tuesday with Lewin Diaz.
On the pitching side of things, they don’t have a single left-handed pitcher on their 40-man roster.
With the ‘three batter’ rule, it doesn’t make the lefty specialist as big a thing out of the bullpen, but it certainly does help to have a couple of available lefties to keep batters off balance.
It’s still early in the offseason, so the Pirates have plenty of opportunities to add a left-handed pitcher. That doesn’t mean they don’t have any internal options.
If the Pirates do decide to look in their own system, there are a few options they could turn to in the upper levels, one of which made his major league debut this past season.
Cam Alldred
The 26-year-old pitched an inning out the bullpen this past season for the Pirates, throwing a scoreless frame while striking out a batter. While in Indianapolis, he pitched mostly out of the bullpen, but made a couple of turns out of the rotation as an opener. In 66.1 innings, Alldred struck out 62 and posted a 4.07 ERA.
Nick Dombkowski
Signed by the Pirates as an undrafted free agent in 2021, Dombkowski made the jump from Bradenton all the way to Altoona in just about a year and a half. He posted a 5-1 record, with a 3.07 ERA while also posting some great swing and miss numbers. Dombkowski struck out 30.7% of the batters he faced, while also generating a swinging strike rate of 13.2%. He did all of this with a walk rate of just 6.8%.
Omar Cruz
After coming over in the Joe Musgrove trade, Cruz pitched well in the rotation last year before making the shift primarily out of the bullpen in 2022. Despite not having an overpowering fastball, his curveball and changeup allowed him to post a better swinging strike rate than notable prospects Quinn Priester, Jared Jones, and Mike Burrows.
He struck out 69 in 62.2 innings with Altoona and recently finished up a stint in the Arizona Fall League.
Tyler Samaniego
The lefty out of South Alabama was named the Kent Tekulve Reliever of the Year in the Pirates system. He didn’t allow a hit all May, a stretch that went 41 total at-bats. He finished with 14 saves and an ERA of just 2.45 in 47.2 innings pitched.
Highlight of the Day
Pirates Prospects Daily
By Tim Williams
**Our Roundtable this week looked at second half surges that we’re buying heading into the 2023 season.
**Rodolfo Nolasco has homered two days in a row against Pirates pitchers in winter ball. John Dreker has the latest updates.
**Beau Sulser will play in Korea next year. Sulser spent time in the majors with the Pirates and the Orioles in 2022.
**Missed yesterday? We had a special Roundtable looking at our favorite Thanksgiving foods.
Song of the Day
Pirates Prospects Weekly
My favorite Prospect Roundtables are the ones where we all get to pick a player on the rise and a player who has struggled. Nick Gonzales ended up on the “bad” list a few times this year in those articles for his first half struggles. I’m buying his second half surge. This week’s Roundtable looks at second half surges we’re buying from the 2022 season.
Prospect Roundtable: Second Half Surges We’re Buying Heading Into 2023
Pirates Discussion
Weekly Pirates Discussion: Where the 40-Man Roster Stands After Rule 5
