Brad Case

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

2018
R:  3-0-0, 3.38 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 40.0 IP, 0.9 BB/9, 7.4 K/9
R+:  1-1-0, 3.72 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 9.2 IP, 3.7 BB/9, 4.7 K/9
A-:  1-0-0, 1.80 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 5.0 IP, 1.8 BB/9, 3.6 K/9

Case initially pitched out of the rotation in the GCL, as the Pirates wanted him to make some mechanical changes.  He was shaky at first, but dominated in his last three games.  The Pirates moved him up to Bristol for two starts, one of which went well and one of which didn’t.  He finished his season with a start at West Virginia.

2019
A:  7-1-0, 2.45 ERA, 0.77 WHIP, 66.0 IP, 0.4 BB/9, 6.8 K/9
A+:  5-5-0, 4.29 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 71.1 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 7.3 K/9

The Pirates put Case in the rotation at Greensboro, a surprising move for a dark horse draft pick, but the move worked out.  Case was very successful there and earned a mid-season promotion to Bradenton, a lot of it by simply not walking anybody.  He also benefited from an extremely low batting average on balls in play of .221.  Even with the unsustainable BABIP, his xFIP was good, at 3.38.  Case had more trouble at Bradenton, with opponents batting .264 against him, as opposed to .195 at Greensboro.  He also had some trouble with gopher balls, allowing 11.  He had no platoon split on the year.

2020
DNP

2021
AA:  2-3-0, 5.24 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 67.0 IP, 2.8 BB/9, 7.7 K/9

The Pirates sent Case to Altoona, where he pitched in relief apart from two starts.  He threw strikes, but otherwise mostly struggled, getting hit very hard.  Opponents had a 295/350/520 line against him and he allowed a home run every five innings.

2022
AA:  1-3-1, 3.92 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 62.0 IP, 3.2 BB/9, 8.4 K/9
AAA:  1-1-0, 9.35 ERA, 2.42 WHIP, 8.2 IP, 3.1 BB/9, 7.3 K/9

The Pirates sent Case to Indianapolis to start the season.  He pitched well through six games except for one meltdown in which he allowed seven earned run in an inning and a third.  A couple games after that the team sent him to Altoona and he spent the rest of the year there.  He pitched reasonably well there, although a couple of bad outings again hurt his numbers.  He threw just over 70 innings on the year, nearly all in long relief.  What trouble Case had generally came from left-handed hitters, who had an .883 OPS against him, compared to .674 for right-handed hitters.

It’s surprising the Pirates didn’t give Case another shot at AAA.  Given a little time to get acclimated, he’s handled new levels well.  Hopefully he’ll get another chance in 2023.