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Pirates Acquire Joe Blanton From Royals

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The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired right-handed veteran pitcher Joe Blanton from the Kansas City Royals for cash considerations. He has made 11 relief appearances and four starts this year, posting a 3.89 ERA in 41.2 innings. He will join the team Thursday in Cincinnati. A corresponding move will be announced at that time.

As a starter, he has had some trouble, with a 5.30 ERA in 18.2 innings. Out of the bullpen, which included an extended outing against the Pirates last week, Blanton has a 2.74 ERA in 23 innings, with 23 strikeouts and a 1.09 WHIP.  He threw 3.2 shutout innings against the Pirates last Tuesday and struck out five batters.

In his 11-year career, the 34-year-old Blanton has a 4.50 ERA in 1609 innings, making 252 starts and 28 relief appearances. He has extensive postseason experience, making six starts and four relief appearances over five different seasons, with a 4.02 ERA in 40.1 innings.

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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