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Pirates Claim Josh Wall, Designate Phil Irwin For Assignment

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The Pittsburgh Pirates have picked up Los Angeles Angels pitcher Josh Wall off waivers and assigned him to AAA Indianapolis. To make room on the 40-man roster, pitcher Phil Irwin has been designated for assignment.

Wall has pitched parts of three seasons in the majors, including two games for the Angels this year. In one inning over two appearances, Wall got hit hard, allowing six runs on five hits and three walks. He also had a difficult time last year with the Dodgers, giving up 17 hits and six walks in seven innings, leading to an 18.00 ERA in six appearances. He is a 27-year-old righty that stands 6’6″, 215 pounds. Wall was a second round pick of the Dodgers in 2005 out of HS. He pitched eight times in AAA this year, with a 4.22 ERA in 10.2 innings. Wall is a hard-thrower that has reached triple digits with his fastball and he mixes in a hard slider.

Irwin began the year as a starter in AAA, then quickly moved to the bullpen, where he has not had any success. He has an 8.22 ERA in 21.2 innings, allowing 27 hits, four homers and 10 walks, to go along with 18 strikeouts.

These moves amount to trading one struggling 27-year-old right-hander for another, although the Pirates would assuredly like to have Irwin clear waivers and return to Indianapolis.

 

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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