The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 30-year-old left-handed pitcher Kent Emanuel to a minor league deal. He was originally a 19th round draft pick of the Pirates out of high school in 2010, but decided to attend college, where he moved up to a third round pick in 2013. He debuted in the majors with the 2021 Houston Astros.
Emanuel has minimal big league experience, posting a 2.55 ERA and an 0.91 WHIP in 17.2 innings with the Astros. He was selected off of waivers by the Philadelphia Phillies during the 2021-22 off-season, but he spent the entire year in the minors and on the injured list. An elbow injury caused his season to begin late, while a shoulder strain caused his season to end early.
Emanuel pitched well when healthy for Lehigh Valley of the Triple-A International League in 2022. He had a 2.37 ERA in ten starts, with a 1.07 WHIP and a 6:44 BB/SO ratio in 49.1 innings. He struggled for the most part while coming up the minor league system, owning a 4.56 career ERA in the minors over 590 innings, but he’s also played in some high offense parks/leagues.
The two injuries in the last season, along with him being an older player with minimal big league time, takes away a bit from the solid Triple-A stats in 2022, and nice numbers in his brief big league time. However, it’s a minor league deal, so there’s no risk to see if he can replicate that success when healthy.
