The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed minor league free agent Blake Townsend. The left-handed pitcher was released from the Seattle Mariners organization on August 5th.
Townsend was signed by Seattle out of Australia in June 2018. He spent his 2024 season with Seattle pitching at the High-A level, where he had a 2.45 ERA in 29.1 innings, along with a 30:17 K/BB. He is 6′ 4″, 245 pounds, and currently in his age 23 season. The Pirates assigned Townsend to the FCL roster, though that could be temporary due to the long layoff from pitching.
Ryder Ryan Outrighted
The Pirates also outrighted RHP Ryder Ryan to Triple-A. The reliever has been used as a depth option in Pittsburgh all year, and this is the second time he was outrighted off the 40-man roster.
Ryan has a 5.66 ERA in 20.2 innings this year with the Pirates, across 15 appearances. He has a 4.45 ERA in 28.1 innings in Triple-A. He was last in the Majors between August 12th and August 19th, filling in as depth while the Pirates dealt with injuries to their bullpen.
DSL Releases
With the DSL season ending earlier this week, the Pirates have released 11 players from their Dominican Academy affiliates. Below are those players, their signing years, and their 2024 stats.
RHP Wali Pierre (2022) – 4.67 ERA, 14:17 K/BB, 27 IP
LHP Yoerys Hernandez (2022) – 7.65 ERA, 22:14 K/BB, 20 IP
RHP Luis Joseph (2019) – 4.15 ERA, 19:22 K/BB, 21.2 IP
RHP Eduardo Zapata (2020) – 8.78 ERA, 16:20 K/BB, 13.1 IP
C July Vittini (2022) – .118/.311/.176, 45 PA
SS Christopher Orelin (2022) – .137/.353/.235, 68 PA
LHP Diego Chiquillo (2019) – 1.69 ERA, 17:10 K/BB, 16 IP
OF Ruben Vizcaya (2021) – .351/.479/.432, 48 PA
RHP Patricio Ress (2019) – 2.22 ERA, 26:18 K/BB, 24.1 IP
SS Edwarli Brioso (2022) – .231/.333/.333, 46 PA
RHP Rafael Mendez (2019) – 2.74 ERA, 30:9 K/BB, 23 IP
Three of the best performers from the list above (Mendez, Vizcaya, Chiquillo) were fourth year DSL players. This means they would have needed to move up to the FCL in 2025. Their release shows the Pirates didn’t intend to make those moves with these players.
