ALTOONA, Pa. – Pirates Prospects has learned that Casey Sadler is being promoted back to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Sadler was sent to Altoona in early July because of a numbers game in Indianapolis. The Pirates wanted to be sure to get him the innings that he needed, and he was more capable of accomplishing that while with the Curve. He started building up his pitch count later that month and made his first start in over two years on July 27th. His promotion comes only two days after throwing a complete game for the Curve, the first nine-inning complete game of his career.
“His execution has gotten better,” Pitching Coordinator Justin Meccage said about Sadler. “He’s gotten back in the groove, and he’s gotten more comfortable. Obviously, he is feeling much healthier.”
While in Altoona, Sadler had a 3.91 ERA, but those numbers don’t necessarily speak to the improvements he made over the last 1 1/2 months. His velocity was actually better than what it was before his Tommy John Surgery in 2015, and his two breaking pitches have steadily improved over that time.
“My consistency is better,” Sadler said. “Going through that process of fine tuning everything, I feel better than I had before the surgery. 100%.”
It is not clear if Sadler will continue pitching out of the rotation for the Indians; however, it will be very surprising if he does not continue to pitch in that role. With September call-ups occurring soon, I would expect Sadler to remain a starter with Indianapolis down the stretch.
