Brendt Citta, who split the 2022 season between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, has been placed on the Voluntarily Retired List. The 26-year-old 1B/OF was a 38th round draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018.
Citta put up mediocre stats at Altoona this year, but improved greatly during his time with Indianapolis. He had a .257/.331/.431 slash line in 31 games at Indianapolis, giving him an OPS that was 12 points over league average. He hit .226/.323/.343 in 59 games with Altoona this year. He did much better with Altoona in 2021, putting up a .759 OPS in 47 games. Citta was a career .260/.348/.397 hitter in 241 games.
His playing time was split fairly evenly between first base and the outfield, with his outfield play split evenly between the two corner spots. He had catching experience in college, but never caught in the pros.
In another transaction from earlier this month, pitcher Wilbur Martinez has been released. He spent three seasons in the Dominican Summer League, where he had a 4.73 ERA and a 1.58 WHIP in 53.1 innings, with 33 walks and 43 strikeouts. He was a lower profile signing out of Panama in November of 2018.
