Zack Von Rosenberg

WTM’S PIRATE PLAYER PROFILES

Von Rosenberg reached agreement with the Pirates on a bonus of $1.2M about a week before the signing deadline. His signing capped off a flurry in which the Pirates agreed to terms, for above-slot money, with him, Colton Cain and Zack Dodson over a period of just a couple days.  This partly validated the team’s draft strategy of paying slot money to Tony Sanchez in the first round in order to spend considerable, above-slot money in later rounds.  (The complete validation, of course, comes if and when the draft produces at the major league level.)

2009
R:  0-0-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.00 WHIP, 1 IP, 0.0 BB/9, 9.0 K/9

Von Rosenberg got in one inning on the last day of the GCL season.

2010
A-:  1-6-0, 3.20 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, 59 IP, 2.0 BB/9, 5.9 K/9 

Despite speculation that Von Rosenberg would appear at West Virginia at some point, he spent the season at State College.  He had a shaky start, posting an ERA of 7.50 in first three outings, but 2.11 after that.  He walked very few, but didn’t van many, either.  Von Rosenberg created some concern by throwing in low- to mid-80s during spring training and at the beginning of season, but his velocity got back up to the upper-80s and low-90s later on.  There may have been some carryover from 2009, when Von Rosenberg said he had a tired arm around the time of signing.  He made enough progress that Baseball America rated him 6th best prospect in NYPL.  According to BA, he especially improved his changeup and his curve showed promise.

2011
A:  5-9-0, 5.73 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 125.2 IP, 1.6 BB/9, 8.2 K/9 

Von Rosenberg had a difficult season at West Virginia, getting hit extremely hard much of the time.  For the season, opponents hit .290 against him with 19 HRs, which is a lot for that level.  Most of the HRs came in the first half of the season; he allowed 14 in his first 68 innings.  Ironically, his walk and strikeout numbers for the season were good.  His stuff at times seemed better than previously.  His fastball sat in the upper-80s in some games, but at 90-92 in others, although it lacked movement and he tended to leave it up.  His offspeed stuff showed promise and he did better when he mixed it in more.  One positive sign was Von Rosenberg finishing the season strongly.  Over his last nine starts, he had an ERA of 2.66.  That lowered his season’s ERA considerably from 7.58, which is where it was before that stretch.  In his very last start, he threw six perfect innings.

2012
A:  5-7-0, 4.36 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 86.2 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 6/2 K/9

Von Rosenberg’s pitching late in the 2011 season seemed to hold some promise for 2012, but it didn’t work out that way.  He was throwing only in the mid-80s in spring training and was getting hit extremely hard.  The Pirates held him back in extended spring training after the season started, then sent him to West Virginia in early June.  Over the course of the year he showed only marginal improvement on 2011.  He didn’t get hit quite as hard–he cut his opponents’ batting average to .272 and allowed fewer HRs–but his walk and K rates both got worse, and he allowed more baserunners.  He had some good stretches, such as a 2.36 ERA in July and a nine-inning three-hitter in his last start, but the end result was very limited progress.

2013
A+:  2-1-0, 3.91 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 23.0 IP, 4.7 BB/9, 3.5 K/9

Von Rosenberg was throwing mostly in the low-80s in camp.  The Pirates sent him to Bradenton to pitch in relief in late April, but he went on the disabled list after two outings.  He returned a week into June, pitched sparingly out of the bullpen for several weeks, then went back on the disabled list until the end of the season, when he made two appearances.  In the end he got into only 14 games, all in relief.  The results obviously weren’t good.

2014
A:  2-2-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 37.1 IP, 1.2 BB/9, 6.0 K/9

In camp, Von Rosenberg was once again struggling to get his fastball into the upper-80s.  The Pirates kept him in extended spring training until late June, when they sent him to West Virginia.  He pitched in long relief, sometimes after the starter had gotten knocked out early.  He got good results, with a good WHIP that resulted mainly from a very low walk rate.

Spending his fifth pro season in low A obviously wasn’t progress for Von Rosenberg.  He simply hasn’t developed as a pitcher, with his stuff going backwards from what it was as a prep pitcher.  He’ll be eligible for minor league free agency after the 2015 season.  The Pirates will probably try him in relief in class A and hope something remarkable happens.