The Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they have signed right-handed pitcher Jason Stoffel and lefty Dan Runzler to minor league contracts and invited both players to Spring Training. We announced the Runzler signing exactly four weeks ago, so that is old news that they are just getting around to announcing. Stoffel is the new signing today. He’s a 28-year-old righty, with no Major League experience, though he has spent four seasons in Triple-A.
Stoffel was a fourth round pick of the San Francisco Giants in 2009. He pitched in their system until 2011, when he was traded to the Houston Astros for former Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Jeff Keppinger. He remained there until late-2015 when he signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He re-signed with the Orioles for 2016 and split the season between Double-A and Triple-A. Stoffel had a 1.78 ERA in 30.1 innings over 28 appearances in Triple-A this year, striking out 37 batters and posting a 1.09 WHIP. He has made 381 relief appearances in his career without a single start.
Stoffel last ranked as a top prospect in the minors back in 2010, getting ranked #22 in the Giants system by Baseball America. At the time, he had a fastball that sat 88-93 MPH, with a slider for his strikeout pitch and he was working on a changeup. He has always put up strong strikeout totals, with a total of 456 in 426.1 innings during his career. Control has sometimes been an issue, and he went from being a ground ball pitcher early in his career, to a fly ball pitcher the last two seasons.