Logan Sendelbach

LOGAN SENDELBACH, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
Born: May 5, 1994
Height: 6’3″
Weight: 185
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Drafted: 10th Round, 307th Overall, 2015
How Acquired: Draft
College: Tiffin (OH) University
Agent: N/A

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE

The Pirates drafted Sendelbach out of Division II Tiffin University, where he had a 2.84 ERA and 50 strikeouts over 57 innings as a junior.  Those stats were similar to the numbers he put up as a sophomore, when he had a 2.92 ERA in 64.2 innings, though he saw an improvement in his strikeout rate this season.  He relies very heavily on a sinker that sits around 93 MPH, at least in the first few innings.  He throws his slider and change sparingly.  Sendelbach is an athletic player and was an Offensive Player of the Year in football as a high school junior and Defensive Player of the Year as a senior.  He was not rated among Baseball America’s top 500 draft prospects.  He signed shortly after the draft.

2015
R+:  2-3-0, 5.23 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 43.0 IP, 2.9 BB/9, 6.7 K/9

The Pirates sent Sendelbach to Bristol, where he made ten starts and one relief appearance.  He struggled badly through the end of July, with an ERA of 9.50 and a WHIP of 2.11.  In August, though, his ERA was 2.16 and his WHIP 0.92.  He didn’t miss a lot of bats overall.

2016
A:  8-8-0, 3.75 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 139.1 IP, 2.0 BB/9, 6.3 K/9

Sendelbach spent the season in the West Virginia rotation.  He continued much like he had late in the previous season, throwing strikes, not allowing a lot of baserunners, but not dominating.  He had a reverse platoon split, with a .593 opponents’ OPS against left-handed hitters and .735 against right-handed hitters, and he was mainly a flyball pitcher.

2017
A+:  5-6-2, 3.58 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, 88.0 IP, 2.5 BB/9, 6.3 K/9

With a crowded rotation situation at Bradenton, Sendelbach opened the season pitching in relief.  He made a few spot starts and then, at the end of July, joined the rotation for the rest of the year.  He ended up making 11 starts in all.  He was much more effective as a reliever; opponents had a 320/352/485 line against him as a starter, 207/272/289 as a reliever.  He had a modest platoon split.

2018
AA:  4-3-0, 4.24 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 70.0 IP, 5.3 BB/9, 6.0 K/9

Apart from three spot starts, Sendelbach pitched out of the Altoona bullpen.  Like Bret Helton, he had a lot of trouble with walks that he hadn’t had at lower levels, probably because of hitters being more selective.  The three spot starts inflated his numbers a bit, as opponents had an OPS of .844 in the starts and .734 in relief appearances.  He had trouble with left-handed batters, who had an .809 OPS against him.  Right-handed batters had a .688 OPS.

Sendelbach probably will return to Altoona in 2019.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
2019: Minor League Contract
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: $100,000
MiLB Debut: 2015
MLB Debut:
MiLB FA Eligible: 2021
MLB FA Eligible:
Rule 5 Eligible: 2018
Added to 40-Man:
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
June 9, 2015: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 10th round, 307th overall pick; signed on June 18.