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Pirates Claim Right-Handed Pitcher Jesus Liranzo

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The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed 23-year-old right-handed pitcher Jesus Liranzo from the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday afternoon and assigned him to the Altoona Curve.

Liranzo was acquired by the Dodgers in a trade just three days ago and was designated for assignment yesterday. He spent part of 2016 and all of 2017 at Double-A Bowie (Orioles) in the Eastern League, where he had a 4.52 ERA in 83.2 innings, with a 95:55 SO/BB ratio and a .204 BAA. He missed 2014 with an elbow surgery and was still in the Dominican Summer League as a 20-year-old in 2015. He made a very rare jump from the DSL to Low-A ball in 2016, the skipped to Double-A during the second half of the season due to being Rule 5 eligible at the end of the year. Liranzo impressed the Orioles enough to get a 40-man roster spot in November 2016.

Baseball America had him as the 19th best prospect for the Baltimore Orioles after the 2017 season. He profiles as a hard throwing reliever with a mid-90s fastball, who also mixes in a splitter and a slider. The control is obviously a weak point and could keep him from reaching his ceiling.

Liranzo has one option remaining after this season and he takes one of the three open spots on the 40-man roster.

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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