The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 17-year-old right-handed pitcher Vince Deyzel out of South Africa. He is listed at 6’2″, 180 pounds and just celebrated his birthday on Monday. In December, Deyzel took part in the Major League Baseball African Elite Camp, where fellow South African Gift Ngoepe was one of the instructors. Also there representing the Pirates was Dave Turgeon, who is the Assistant Field Coordinator. The camp is for the best young talent from around Africa, giving them a chance to train with Major League baseball instructors.
Update 8:30 AM: Deyzel hasn’t played baseball long and has spent even less time on the mound. He started playing four years ago as a third baseman and outfielder, occasionally pitching. Just recently, he began to pitch full-time. He throws a fastball, curve and change-up right now. Back in December, he was hitting 88 MPH with his fastball. The plans now are for Deyzel to come to Bradenton in the summer for about five weeks and then next year he will report to minor league camp in February, so don’t expect to see him pitch in the system until 2016. Right now, he is currently in the middle of his baseball season, playing for a local club.
You can view the rest of the Pirates International signings here for the current 2014-15 signing period.
