Pirates Claim Sam Moll From Athletics

The Pirates have claimed left-hander Sam Moll off waivers from the Athletics, according to press releases from both teams. Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players.

Moll, 25, is a former third-round pick of the Rockies that was traded to Oakland this past August for cash considerations. The A’s designated him for assignment last week when clearing space on their 40-man roster to protect several players from the Rule 5 Draft.

The 2017 season saw Moll make his big league debut in Oakland, though the results weren’t especially pretty. In 6 2/3 frames, the Memphis product was tagged for eight runs on 13 hits (including two homers) and three walks with seven strikeouts.

In 54 1/3 innings between the Triple-A affiliates for the Rockies and the A’s, Moll pitched to a more respectable 3.64 ERA with 7.8 K/9 against 3.1 BB/9. He also registered a promising 50.3 percent ground-ball rate in his 47 1/3 innings with Colorado’s Triple-A affiliate, though that fell to 33.3 percent in admittedly tiny seven-inning sample with Oakland’s affiliate. Overall, Moll has a history of missing bats and inducing grounders at decent clips in the minors. He joins Nik Turley as the second southpaw claimed off waivers by the Bucs since the offseason began.