The Pittsburgh Pirates have released nine minor league players, including seven pitchers. A brief write-up on each player is below.
The big name here is Billy Roth, who signed for $190,000 after being selected in the 16th round of the 2013 draft. He was called one of the best late round draft picks that year by Baseball America. Roth was a projectable high school pitcher when he signed and he added velocity, going from topping out at 92 MPH during his first season, to sitting 93-96 MPH last year. He even improved his curveball, but he had a lot of trouble once runners got on base.