The Pittsburgh Pirates have recalled right-handed pitcher Casey Sadler from Triple-A Indianapolis and have optioned Jared Hughes to the minors. This is the first time that Sadler has been called up to the majors. He was originally scheduled to start with Indianapolis today. Sadler is most likely in the majors to provide long-relief, as Stolmy Pimentel was used up yesterday when Francisco Liriano went down early.
Sadler is a sinkerball pitcher, who was off to a good start with Indianapolis, putting up a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings, along with a 16:6 K/BB ratio. He throws his fastball in the 89-93 MPH range, and pairs the pitch with a slider that has late break and profiles as an above-average pitch. Like a lot of sinkerball guys, Sadler’s focus is on pitching to contact, so he doesn’t generate a lot of strikeouts, but he does go deep into games.
I don’t expect Sadler to remain in the Pirates’ bullpen for long, since making him a reliever would cut into the rotation depth. With Brandon Cumpton in the major league rotation, Sadler is currently one of the top three starting depth options, along with Jeff Locke and Stolmy Pimentel.
Sadler was replaced by Tyler Waldron in the rotation in Indianapolis. Waldron was just promoted from Altoona today for the start.