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Pirates Relief Pitching Prospects Drawing Interest?

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Vic Black (pictured) and Duke Welker were seen by ten teams this weekend.
Vic Black (pictured) and Duke Welker were seen by ten teams this weekend.

Peter Gammons (via Will Flemming on Twitter) said on MLB Network that 10 teams were at Victory Field this weekend, looking at Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitching prospects Vic Black and Duke Welker.

Both Black and Welker are hard throwers, with their fastballs sitting in the upper 90s and touching 100 in the past. They also each have plus breaking balls, which lead to a lot of strikeouts for each pitcher.

I’m not sure what it means that teams were looking at both relievers. I wouldn’t be surprised if teams were interested in either player. I’ve heard opposing scouts praise Welker for a few years, even when he was walking a batter an inning a few years ago in low-A. That said, I’d rather see the Pirates go with the approach they’ve been taking with relievers. If they’re going to trade relievers, they should trade established relievers for prospects, then use guys like Black and Welker to replace the departed players. Trading guys like Black and Welker would allow other teams to build low cost, quality bullpens in the same approach that the Pirates have been taking.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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