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Pirates Sign Dan Meyer

The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed left handed reliever Dan Meyer to a minor league contract

Game 5 Live Blog: Pirates at Cardinals

Join Pirates Prospects this season as we team up with other great Pittsburgh Pirates blogs for live blogs during the games.  Here are today's...

Where Are Victor Black and Brett Lorin?

I received the Bradenton roster this afternoon while I was on the road, heading to West Virginia for their media day.  I only had...

Taking a Look at Morton’s Pitch Location

Obviously, Charlie Morton leaned heavily on his sinker last night in St. Louis. According to Brooks Baseball, 68 of his 94 pitches were sinkers...

The Wounded Warriors

The Pirates have three pitchers who are beginning the year on the (long term) disabled list.  When they eventually are ready to return, they will have to do some minor league rehabbing.  

Donnie Veal  --  L/L, 6' 4", 230 lb
Veal was a Rule 5 draft pick for the Pirates in 2008, coming from the Cubs' organization.  He did spend the entire 2009 season officially on the Pirates' roster, though he also went onto the Disabled List with vague injuries twice.  He pitched 7 "rehab" games in Altoona (5 starts, no record, 13.1 innings, 1.35 ERA), and 9 "rehab" games in Indianapolis (0-1 record, 14 innings, 6.43 ERA).   Veal got in only rare work out of the Pirates' bullpen, and his control suffered all season.  However, after the season, Veal was assigned to the Arizona Fall League, where he got in regular work -- and dominated.  Veal returned to Indianapolis to begin the 2010 season.  His control was improving, and in his first 4 starts, he allowed 8 runs over 22.1 innings (3.22 ERA) with 9 walks and 14 strikeouts.  The next three starts were rough, with 13 runs in 15.1 innings.  Then Veal had his best outing, throwing 7 shutout innings and allowing just 2 hits.  He made one more start, and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits.  Then Veal was shut down with elbow problems, which eventually led to Tommy John surgery.  Overall for the season, Veal earned a 3-2 record and a 4.35 ERA in 49.2 innings of work, with 24 earned runs and 42 hits, 23 walks (4.2 walks/ 9 innings), and 41 strikeouts (7.4 K/ 9 innings).   Veal was non-tendered at the end of the 2010 season, but was quickly signed to a minor league contract.  He came to spring training and worked on things like fielding drills, but did not pitch competitively.  The 26-year-old is tentatively on track to return by the middle of the 2011 season.  


Jose Ascanio  -- R/R,  6' 0",  170 lb
Ascanio, a 25-year-old Venezuelan native, was first signed by the Braves, then traded to the Cubs, and in July 2009 was traded to the Pirates.  After the trade, Ascanio made one start in Indianapolis, then moved up to Pittsburgh, where he made 2 relief appearances.  He developed some shoulder problems at that point, and was out for the rest of the season, eventually having shoulder surgery.  He was ready to pitch again in mid-2010, and made one rehab start with the GCL Pirates and another with A+ Bradenton, throwing a total of 3 scoreless innings.  Unfortunately, Ascanio injured his hand (off the field) at that point, which shut him down for the rest of 2010.  He did get in some work for Los Leones del Caracas in the Venezuelan Winter League,throwing 9 scoreless innings over 8 games, with 5 hits, one walk, and 7 strikeouts.  Ascanio, who is on the Pirates' 40-man roster, came to spring training, but pitched very little, and when he did pitch, he did not have good command.  He was placed on the DL to begin the 2011 season, but it's unclear where he will go from there.  He is not even close to being ready to pitch at the major league level, but he is out of options, and might not make it through waivers without being claimed.  

2011 Bradenton Marauders Roster Announced

The Bradenton Marauders have announced their Opening Day roster for the 2011 season, via a team press release.  The players who will be at...

Buy Tickets on Pirates Prospects Through TiqIQ

You may have noticed the TiqIQ box that has been placed on the sidebar of every page of the site.  Pirates Prospects has teamed...

How Short Should Cedeno’s Leash Be?

As I watched Ronny Cedeno bobble an easy double play ball last night, late in the game, a question crossed my mind: how short...

2011 Draft Prospects Rundown: 4/5

Here is a recap of how each of the top 2011 draft prospects did this past week.  Click on their names to go to...

Game 4 Recap: Bucs Bunch Runs and Hold On

79 wins and counting to reach a season above .500 for the first time since before I even began dating my wife of 16...

Game 4 Live Blog: Pirates at Cardinals

Join Pirates Prospects this season as we team up with other great Pittsburgh Pirates blogs for live blogs during the games.  Here are today's...

2011 Prospect Watching: Thomas, Gallagher, Yates

Finishing up with the rest of the Pirates' minor league pitchers:

Justin Thomas  --  L/L,  6' 3",  215 lbs
Thomas is a 27-year-old reliever, chosen by the Mariners in the 4th round of the 2005 draft.  He'd moved steadily up through their organization, mostly as a starter and made his major league debut in September 2008.  He was moved to the bullpen, but struggled there in 2009 at AAA Tacoma, and at the end of that season, he was put on waivers and claimed by the Pirates, who later outrighted him to AAA Indianapolis.  Thomas started the 2010 season at Indianapolis, where he generally shut down the opposition.  After allowing 3 earned runs on 6 hits over his first 3 appearances (5.1 innings), Thomas did not allow another run in his next 15 innings/ 9 appearances, and gave up only 4 hits in that time.  He gave up a homer in his next appearance, then allowed only one run over his 13.1 innings/ 11 appearances, with 5 hits.  Thomas was promoted to the Pirates in late June, but appeared in only 3 games there, allowing 6 runs on 7 hits in 5 innings.  After about 2.5 weeks, he was returned to Indianapolis.  Over the next 6 appearances, he allowed 7 runs, though 6 of them came in two games.  Thomas was back up to Pittsburgh at the beginning of August, and got into 4 games in a week, and this time pitched very well -- 3.2 scoreless innings and 5 hits.  Even so, he was heading back to Indy after the week, where he gave up 2 runs in one of his 5 outings, and otherwise pitched 5.1 scoreless innings.  Thomas must have been thinking that he was a yo-yo -- back to Pittsburgh for one game in late August, when he gave up 2 runs in 2 innings.  The yo-yo bounced right back to Indy, for another 5 games, and only one run in 6.2 innings.  When the minor league season ended, Thomas was again brought up to the Pirates, to appear in 4 more games, allowing one home run in one of the game, but pitching 2.1 scoreless innings in the other three.  (Whew!)  Thomas's final stats at Indianapolis:  5-0 record and 4 saves, with 2.48 ERA, and 15 earned runs on 33 hits over 54.1 innings; also 10 walks (1.7 walks/ 9 innings) and 31 strikeouts (8.5 K/ 9 innings).  And his final stats in Pittsburgh, not as impressive:  0-1 record, with 6.23 ERA, and 9 earned runs on 21 hits in 13 innings; also 5 walks and 5 strikeout, for 3.5 walks/ 9 innings and 3.5 K/ 9 innings.  Thomas was again removed from the 40-man roster at the end of the season, then signed to a minor league contract.  Thomas also pitched 19.1 innings of relief for Los Bravos de Margarita in winter ball.  He earned a 1-2 record and gave up 11 earned runs, for a 5.12 ERA.  He had trouble with walks for Los Bravos also (10), and struck out 14 batters.  Thomas was invited to the Pirates' major league spring training, but was reassigned to Indianapolis, where he will begin the 2011 season.  If he can repeat last season's domination in AAA, he will see Pittsburgh again.



Sean Gallagher  --  R/R,  6' 2",  235 lb
Gallagher came to the Pirates from the Padres, who had designated him for assignment in June 2010.  He'd initially been drafted by the Cubs in the 12th round of the 2004 draft, and later was traded to the A's and then to the Padres.  Gallagher began the 2010 season with the Padres, and allowed 10 runs on 14 hits in 13 innings of relief over 9 appearances.  He was sent to AAA Portland in mid-May, and made 3 starts there, where he gave up 6 runs over 11 innings.  Gallagher was called back to San Diego at the end of May, resuming a relief role for the next 6 games.  He allowed 4 runs in 10.1 innings, including one game in which he pitched 3.1 scoreless innings and gave up just 2 hits.  After arriving in Pittsburgh, Gallagher again pitched out of the bullpen.  He made 7 appearances in July, and allowed 4 runs on 7 hits in 9 innings (4.00 ERA).  He made another 13 appearances in August, and gave up 4 runs on 5 hits in the first 9 of those (7.2 innings).  That was followed by a tough week, when Gallagher gave up 5 runs in two different games, and one run in each of three more games.  He finished the season with 10 better outings, allowing 2 runs over 9.2 innings.  His stats for Pittsburgh:  a 2-1 record and a 6.03 ERA, with 23 earned runs and 38 hits in 34.1 innings, with 22 walks and 22 strikeouts, for 5.8 walks and strikeouts per 9 innings.  Like Thomas, Gallagher was removed from the Pirates' 40-man roster and assigned to Indianapolis.  At age 25, he'll begin the season at Indy, where he will need to regain the form he had in the lower minors in the Mariners' organization.