The Pittsburgh Pirates have released right-handed pitcher John Holdzkom, who was designated for assignment on April 3rd when they set their Opening Day roster. We have seen multiple times this year that the Pirates have released a pitcher, only to re-sign him to a minor league deal. They did it with Casey Sadler, Guido Knudson and Angel Sanchez this off-season, and had the intentions to do it with Jesse Biddle as well, but the Atlanta Braves claimed him off waivers.
No word yet if the Pirates have intentions of doing the same thing with Holdzkom. When he was sent to minor league camp during Spring Training, he was listed on the injured roster. His velocity was well down during Spring Training this year, sitting 90-91 MPH.
UPDATE 7:03 PM: I just confirmed that Holdzkom cleared waivers, but the Pirates were unable to outright him to Triple-A because he’s not “healthy”. Thus, the release. I’d expect them to try and sign him back. -Tim Williams
