The Pirates released a clarification Friday morning stating left-handed reliever Kevin Siegrist has been suspended, not released, after refusing his assignment to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Siegrist, 28, allowed five earned runs in 8 2/3 innings for the Pirates this spring after signing as a minor-league free agent in February, and the Pirates released a statement saying Siegrist has a clause in his contract stipulating he'd agree to a minor-league assignment if no other team offered him a big-league deal. The club chose to keep Josh Smoker as the left-hander on their opening day roster after Siegrist's velocity was down and his command was inconsistent.
Smoker has a 3.00 WHIP in 1 2/3 innings, and the Pirates could use a veteran such as Siegrist, who was one of the top left-handed relievers in the National League for three years before an injury-shortened season in 2017.
"He’s had more velocity when he’s had his better seasons,” Neal Huntington said when Siegrist was cut from big-league camp on March 26. “There has been a trend downward in the overall velocity and the average velocity, and that continued here this spring. … Our thought in this process is let him continue to go build arm strength, let him continue to get back to that guy that was effective in ’16 and prior to that.”
Siegrist had a 4.81 ERA, 1.60 WHIP and averaged a career-high 5.5 walks per nine innings in 39 appearances — his fewest since 2014 — in 2017. He went 17-9 with a 2.70 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and averaged 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings in his first four major league seasons after making his debut in 2013.
He made a career-high 81 appearances for the Cardinals in 2015, and he even pitched against the Pirates in the National League Division Series as a rookie in 2013. Siegrist has averaged 10.48 strikeouts per nine innings in his career while holding opposing hitters to a .206 batting average against, including .194 against right-handed hitters and .229 against lefties.
His departure leaves the Pirates short on options if Smoker, Dovydas Neverauskas and Edgar Santana continue to struggle. Kyle Crick, the right-hander acquired in the Andrew McCutchen trade, had a 5.73 ERA and 1.55 WHIP this spring before being demoted to Triple-A Indianapolis.
The Pirates' other internal options are minor-league free agent signings such as Tyler Jones, Richard Rodriguez and Bo Schultz, who will begin the season at High-A Bradenton as he returns from Tommy John surgery. Triple-A Indianapolis does not have a left-handed pitcher listed on its roster.
The Pirates have two spots remaining on their 40-man roster after claiming right-handed reliever Jesus Liranzo off waivers from the Dodgers Thursday. Lizarno was assigned to Double-A Altoona.
