MLB

Pittsburgh Pirates May Have a New Reclamation Project In Rob Scahill

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Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

The Pittsburgh Pirates have made another move to acquire a pitcher you’ve probably never heard of. But don’t brush this move aside just because you don’t know who Rob Scahill is. Remember when Pittsburgh didn’t know who Jason Grilli and Mark Melancon were? The Pirates have a knack for turning these scuffling late-20s pitchers into real bullpen talent.

Scahill is a 27-year-old who has seen major league action in the last three seasons with the Colorado Rockies. In Scahill’s rookie year, 2012, he gave up just one run in 8.2 innings. He appeared in a career-high 23 games with the Rockies in 2013, posting a 5.13 ERA. His ERA wasn’t much better last season, as he gave up eight runs in 15 innings for a 4.80 ERA.

While these stats aren’t too impressive, don’t be surprised if Scahill is another reclamation project for Pirates’ pitching coach Ray Searage and his staff. The right-hander throws hard, averaging around 94 MPH on his fastball. He also has a hard slider. The best part of this deal is Scahill still has options, meaning the Pirates can work on some things with him in Triple-A Indianapolis.

Remember when Grilli came to Pittsburgh. He was coming off a 2009 season where he combined for a 5.32 ERA with Colorado and the Texas Rangers. The next season, Grilli won two games, got a save and posted a 2.48 ERA with the Pirates. In 2012, he was just as good as the Pirates setup man, and in 2013 he saved 33 games with a 2.70 ERA.

It was the same story for Melancon. He was 0-2 with a 6.20 ERA for the Boston Red Sox in 2012. He gave up 31 runs in 45 innings, including eight home runs. The Pirates picked up Melancon in the Joel Hanrahan trade. Many people were more interested in prospects Jerry Sands and Stolmy Pimentel, not Melancon. Well, ever since he’s been in Pittsburgh, Melancon has been unbelievable for the Pirates. He had a 1.39 ERA and 16 saves in 2013 and last year he had a 1.90 ERA with 33 saves.

You can even point to under-the-radar signings like Vin Mazzaro and Jeanmar Gomez too. Gomez posted a 5.96 ERA with the Cleveland Indians in 2012. He has posted an ERA under 3.35 for the Pirates over the past two years. Mazzaro had a 5.73 ERA for the Kansas City Royals in 2012. He had an ERA of 2.81 in 2013 and 3.48 in limited time in 2014.

I’m not saying Scahill is the next Pirates closer, but he could be the next reclamation project to start turning heads out of the bullpen. The Pirates have done a great job over the past five years of picking up “under-the-radar” bullpen arms. It has led to several straight years with the team’s bullpen ERA hovering around 3.00 which ispretty impressive. I think after a little time in Triple-A to work with the Pirates’ pitching coaches, Scahill could make an impact coming out of the bullpen.

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