Pirates add relief depth with two more acquisitions

After the Pirates acquired former first-round pick Jake Woodford, two more experienced right-handed pitchers joined the team. On Tuesday, the Pirates agreed to terms on a minor league contract with Luis Cessa and claimed Dennis Santana off waivers from the Yankees.

Santana will join the team in St. Louis, filling the spot vacated by Ben Heller, who was selected to be assigned to the team on his day off following Niko Goodrum’s report. The Pirates designated Jose Hernandez for assignment to make room for Santana on the 40-man roster. Cessa will report to Triple-A Indianapolis along with Woodford.

Santana, 28, spent the entire season with the Yankees after spending the previous six seasons with the Dodgers, Rangers and Mets. In 23 appearances, he’s struggled to a 6.26 ERA and has a career-worst 16.5% strikeout rate, but he’s also posting his best walk rate since 2020 and a home run rate half the league average, which backs up his FIP of 3.91. .

Santana’s fastball – sinking about two-thirds of the time – still averages 95.6 mph, and between the fastball and his two breakthrough pitches (slider and cutter), he boasts a pursuit rate in the 82nd percentile. While this hasn’t translated into strikeouts, it still allows him to limit hard contact more often than other pitchers with his profile.

Cessa, 32, hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2023, when he scored 26 runs in 26 innings with the Reds. He was a regular for the Yankees from 2016-2021, posting a 4.19 ERA in 292 innings in the Bronx. The highlight of his career was the 2021 season, during which he was traded from the Yankees to the Reds. At both stops, his ERA was a perfect 2.51 in 53 relief appearances.

After a slow start to 2023, he was released by the Reds and has since bounced around the Rockies, Nationals and Royals, not returning to the majors at any of those stops. Cessa was used almost exclusively as a starter in Triple-A Omaha this year and had an ERA of 3.89.

Jose Hernandez is a DFA surprise. The 26-year-old left-hander started 50 Rule 5 games for the Pirates in 2023, and after a strong start, he finished with a 4.97 ERA but a 27.8% strikeout rate. Now that he has met the Rule 5 requirements and is eligible for an option, he has bounced between Pittsburgh and Indianapolis this year and struggled. His 3.38 ERA is not supported by his FIP (6.33) or his Triple-A ERA (7.04).

Hernandez was recently selected after being unused away from the Pirates for nine straight days and his velocity dropped off dramatically upon his return to Indianapolis. After averaging 94.6 mph with his fastball last year, he averaged 91.9 mph, and in his last outing he hit just 92.7 mph.

With the recent struggles of pitchers like Ben Heller, Kyle Nicolas and Carmen Mlodzinski, the intense play of all three relievers (Colin Holderman, Aroldis Chapman and David Bednar), and injuries to starting pitchers Martin Perez and Quinn Priester, the team’s batting depth has been in serious jeopardy as of late. We hope the additions of Santana and Cessa prove valuable in rebuilding that depth.