The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed 27-year-old middle infielder Domingo Leyba to a minor league deal. The switch-hitter has put in two partial seasons at the big league level.
Leyba was originally signed as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican by the Detroit Tigers in 2012. He was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks long before he made the majors. He played in the Arizona Fall League in 2014, but didn’t debut in the majors until 2019. He hit .280/.367/.440 in 30 plate appearances over 21 games with the 2019 Arizona Diamondbacks.
Leyba didn’t play in 2020 due to a minor league 80-game suspension after testing positive for Boldenone. He returned in 2021 to play for the Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles, combining to hit just .115/.198/.161 in 96 plate appearances over 34 games.
Leyba spent most of 2022 in Double-A for the San Diego Padres, where he hit .266/.365/.409 in 98 games. He also had a .538 OPS in ten Triple-A games. He played winter ball in the Dominican this off-season, hitting .211/.318/.246 in 22 games.
While his big league time has mostly been at second base, Leyba has split his minor league time approximately 45% each between shortstop and second base, with the other 10% being third base. Reports say his best position is second base.
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.
I’ll give u acouple MiLB players the Pirates should sign(or I wouldn’t mind them signing).
Sherten Apostel: Pirates fans should remember him. Him and his brother were both Pirates international signees. He’s still just 24 years and a RH bat that can platoon with Mason Martin in AAA at 1B/DH.
Seth Romero – still just 27 years old. A former 1st round pick and lefty strike out pitcher. A better AAA/AAAA option than Zamora/Zastryzny/Caleb Smith. He’s pitched 98 minor league innings with 149 K.
Foster Griffin – a former first round pick. 6’3, 225 pound lefty RP. He turns 28 in July. Pitched 51 innings in AAA last season (2.10 ERA with 1.07 WHIP, 57 K and just 15 BB).
Josh James – 6’5, 230 pound, RH power pitcher with a bit of an injury history. Has 106 MLB innings with Houston(4.64 ERA, 1.32 WHIP and 158 K in 106 IP). Pitched just 25 AAA innings last season and got hit around but still some potential there. Just turned 30 years old.
yawning perplexedly
All I can see is MiL depth in case Owings gets hurt early. Still rather see Bae than Owings, though,
This organizations obsession with light hitting middle infielders is insane. And it predates Cherington.
With Bae, Marcano, Triolo, Castro and Peguro all on the 40 man and Ngonzo and Owings a NRI it seems to me like BC is stockpiling guys temporarily. Could be getting ready to make a trade and wants the depth in reserve of that. There is no way all of these guys get enough playing time in AAA and MLB.
AAA depth?
Why the fascination with marginal MI, BC?
JD: Are you sure that they’re not bringing Nick LEYVA back and you got them confused? 😂😂😂😂
Cherington loooooooves these zero bat failed prospects with positional flexibility soooooooo much.
I always end up drafting a guy in OOTP that can pay every position but catcher. Only one has ever made it to the majors for me, and he ended up only backing up infield. Still, I always end up with another.
ANY mention of OOTP gets an upvote from me. Just wished I could play more, but my wife draws the line at 10 hours a day. 😂😂😂😂