PITTSBURGH -- Last season, Pirates reliever A.J. Schugel threw his last inning of the year on August 30. He was shut down during the month of September with a shoulder injury after posting a 3.63 ERA in 52 innings.
Of the Pirates pitchers that eclipsed the 50-inning mark, only Jared Hughes (3.03 ERA), Tony Watson (3.06 ERA), and Neftali Feliz (3.52 ERA) performed better, and with Feliz a free agent, it seemed likely that Schugel would find a role in the Pirates 2017 bullpen based on that performance.
But the shoulder injury lingered into the offseason and wreaked havoc with Schugel’s usual plans.