The Pittsburgh Pirates took advantage of one of their free 40-man roster spots last week, and made a selection in the Rule 5 draft. With the pick, they added Los Angeles Dodgers lefty Jose Hernandez.
The 24-year-old pitched across two levels last year, putting up some good strikeout numbers (27.8% across 59.2 innings), while also struggling a bit with control (10.1%).
Despite the control, Hernandez was still an intriguing pick up for the Pirates, as he added to maybe the system’s biggest hole, left-handed pitching.
Up to that point, there wasn’t a left-handed pitcher on the 40-man roster — though the Pirates had come to an agreement with reliever Jarlin Garcia.