The Pittsburgh Pirates released two players on Wednesday afternoon, while also making a few other rosters moves throughout the minors.
Pitcher Blake Cederlind and outfielder Angel Basabe have both been released.
Cederlind made it up to the Pirates briefly during the 2020 season, but due to Tommy John surgery and a setback during his rehab, he did not pitch again until earlier this month.
The 27-year-old Cederlind was a fifth round pick in 2016, who relied heavily on a mid-90s fastball when he first signed. He developed his secondary pitches a bit, but his career took off as a reliever who was touching triple digits in 2019.
He still had some polishing to do going into 2021 after a brief big league stint, but missing two full seasons, plus a late start this year led to plenty of rust. He allowed nine runs over six innings in Low-A ball, giving up six hits, six walks and two hit batters.
Basabe was a bigger international signing during the Pirates 2017-18 signing class. He never showed any real signs of future success, though he debuted well for the 2018 Dominican Summer League Pirates, posting a .755 OPS over 50 games in the pitcher-friendly league.
He has played just 114 games since then, mostly due to poor results and a crowded outfield situation at the lower levels. Basabe was a reserve this year, seeing limited action. He hit .226/.310/.345 over 164 games during his five seasons, mostly spent in short-season ball.
Travis Swaggerty has returned to Indianapolis from his rehab assignment in Bradenton, after missing five full weeks of action due to illness.
Swaggerty went 1-for-9 in his four games with Bradenton, though he drew five walks during that brief time. He last played for Indianapolis back on April 18th. He was hitting .231/.310/.442 at the time of his trip to the Injured List.
Domingo Leyba has returned from the Injured List for Altoona. He was hitting .329/.404/.456 through 22 games, before heading to the IL on May 9th.
Drew Maggi has to serve a three-game suspension from the league, which he will start tonight. His temporary departure opened a spot for Leyba.
