Pirates Prospects has learned that the Pittsburgh Pirates have re-signed left-handed pitcher Elvis Escobar to a minor league deal before he became a minor league free agent this off-season. Escobar was converted from the outfield to the mound this summer and had a lot of success with the switch, while showing a fastball that got up to 96 MPH.
I wrote an article after seeing Escobar pitch 2.1 shutout innings for Altoona a month ago because the outing was so impressive for a player with almost no prior mound experience. He was sitting 94-95 MPH, getting both swinging and called strikes with his fastball, curveball and changeup. He finished his partial season on the mound with a .214 BAA, a 1.35 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 30.1 innings.
Those stats include a mop-up outing in late May that set everything into motion. The change came despite him allowing all five batters he faced to reach base. Escobar was hitting 94 MPH in that outing with no prior mound experience, which made it easy to overlook the poor results. Now they have a chance to see what the 24-year-old can do with a full season of concentrating on pitching. There were talks of him taking the mound during winter ball in his native Venezuela, although that plan may have changed now that he has re-signed.
One note on this since he has been re-signed very early in the off-season. Unless they decide to add him to the 40-man roster, then he will be Rule 5 eligible. I’m not sure a team would take a pitcher with only 30.1 innings of experience, with most of it in Low-A, but 96 MPH from a lefty with three pitches, could get him a look somewhere. If he’s pitching in winter ball, more eyes will see him before the draft.
