The Pittsburgh Pirates will promote left-hander Eliecer Navarro to Altoona this week. John Eshleman was covering the Altoona Curve tonight, and Navarro was with the team. He is expected to make his first start this week, which will probably come on Tuesday.
Navarro had a 2.86 ERA in 69.1 innings with Bradenton this year, along with a 62:13 K/BB ratio. Navarro throws in the upper 80s and has a good curveball, a good changeup, and good control. He’s a small lefty who works more off control, so the jump to Double-A will be a bigger test of his skills than he was seeing in Bradenton.
