Left-handed pitcher Braeden Ogle agreed to a minor league deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates two weeks ago according to a post tagged on his Instagram. Alex Stumpf is reporting that he received an invite to Spring Training.
Ogle was originally drafted by the Pirates out of high school in the fourth round in 2016. He remained in the system until he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies late in the 2021 season for Abraham Gutierrez.
The 25-year-old Ogle spent all of the 2021-22 seasons in Triple-A. He had a 3.13 ERA, a 1.33 WHIP and 42 strikeouts in 31.2 innings with Indianapolis prior to the trade. He went to Lehigh Valley for the rest of 2021 and all of 2022, where he had a 6.91 ERA in 54.2 innings, with a 1.92 WHIP and 42 strikeouts. He reached minor league free agency after the season.
The Pirates have been busy signing left-handed pitchers recently, to add to the group they signed earlier this winter. Last week we reported Geronimo Franzua signing, while just one day earlier, we announced Kent Enmanuel was signed.
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.
Next up, Stetson Allie and Allen Hanson.
I still have high hopes for Abraham Gutierrez
I like it. Always thought Ogle had potential and he made it pretty far with decent results. Seems like he imploded after leaving the system (count that as one datum toward developmental prowess for the farm), but if he returns to 2020-21 form, he could be a useful ML lefty reliever. Plus it could be a feel good story with pretty much zero cost/risk. Rooting for him.
that cursed 2016 draft…what a year for the franchise.
Just looked at it. Would have loved to have the Dodgers first several picks in that draft. At least Reynolds ended up coming to the Bucs. Moniak always confused me. Would have taken Pete Alonso and forfeited all remaining picks.
Here’s the players that made the Show…
Collectively -0.4. Basically, a handful of dudes that had a cup of coffee.
Cederlind was exciting for about as long as a half a cup of coffee lasts my wife after my 3 and 5 year old come blowing out of their rooms at 6:18 am.
Nick Lodolo was a good pick. Oh . . . wait . . . .
The irony of the entire draft!
The one dude who ends up becoming something is also the one dude that didn’t sign, sheesh.
Sort-of the other end of the spectrum — In the Cole/Bell/Glasnow/Holmes draft, they also selected Trea Turner and didn’t sign him.
What an absolute banger.
Woodie Fryman is next.
Woodie Fryman would have been great as piggyback starter.
Fryman was a good starter in his own right, before he became a very good reliever at the end of his career.
This here guy is dead…..
Yeah, but he’s a lefty, so . . . .
Searching the tombs of our forebears, the hinterlands of the inner continent, the hollers of the Appalachians, the nooks and crannies of rural America, the lands that time forgot…