Pirates
Prospects On Deck: RHP Casey Sadler – Pirates
Another talented pitcher in the Pirates system.
Photo courtesy of MLB.com
The Pittsburgh Pirates took right-handed pitcher Casey Sadler in the 25th round of the 2010 June Amateur draft out of Western Oklahoma State College.
In his first season in pro ball, he was placed on the Bucs low Class A State College squad and in 12 relief appearances he was 3-0, with a 3.00 ERA, and 21 strikeouts in 24 innings. In 2011, he moved up to Class A Full Season West Virginia Power, and in 35 relief appearances he was 5-5, with a 2.43 ERA, four saves and 57 strikeouts in 66.2 innings.
Quickly advancing through the system, the 6’4″ right-hander moved to the Class A Advanced Bradenton Marauders in 2012, and in 32 games he was 4-6, with a 3.73 ERA, two saves and 93 strikeouts in 130.1 innings. But the 2013 season would change Sadler’s journey as he not only moved up to Double-A Altoona Curve and then eventually Triple-A Indianapolis Indians, but he also became a starter.
In 24 starts in 2013, Sadler was 11-7 (With Altoona), but combined between both Double-A and Triple-A, he had a 3.37 ERA, with 72 strikeouts in 136.1 innings.
Sadler started the 2014 season by going 3-0 in Triple-A and in May he made his major league debut while appearing in two games and facing 14 batters, allowing two hits, with two walks and three strikeouts in four scoreless innings.
The rest of the season was the same for Sadler as he moved between Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, pitching during the Pirates home games, with one road game late in the season against the Atlanta Braves.
In Triple-A, he was 11-4, with a with a 3.03 ERA, with 77 strikeouts in 124.2 innings and 0-1, with a 7.84 ERA, with seven strikeouts in 10.1 big league innings, which spanned over six games.
So far in two spring training starts, he is 1-0, with five scoreless innings, and has recorded three strikeouts.
Based on his numbers, he isn’t an over powering pitcher that will strikeout a ton of batters, and reports indicate that he is more of a finesse pitcher. He was also projected by Baseball America at the end of the 2014 season, to be a possible closer at one point in his career because he isn’t easily rattled on the mound, but most reports indicated that he is seen as a back of the rotation starter.
The Pirates do not have Sadler on the big league depth chart, but the upside for the righty is that he already has some major league experience under his belt, which should give him a step up when the team needs a spot starter or even relief help during the season.
The Pirates farm system keeping pumping our great talent each season.
David Conde
David is the Co-Founder and Executive Editor of Legends On Deck®, as well as a Co-Host on Legends On Deck Podcast. David was a Senior Editor for MetsMerizedOnline.com, MetsMinors.net and Contributor for Hardballchat.com that spanned from 2010 to 2014. David made his MLB Debut as a writer in June 2014, while covering the NY Mets at Citi Field, for MetsmerizedOnline.com. David also coaches baseball for ages 13-15, a Babe Ruth League team in his local community. David's passion is coaching the game he loves to the future Legends of Tomorrow as well as making available a website that people can have fun sharing and reading. David is also passionate about his career as a Mortgage Loan Officer which allows him to help many families reach their dreams of owning a home. Connect with David via his Social Media pages as he loves to chat all about baseball.
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