The Pirates have signed right-hander Luis Cessa to a minor league deal, as first reported by Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (X link). Cessa was released from a pact with the Royals on June 1.
It’s the second non-roster rotation pickup in as many days for Pittsburgh. The Bucs added Jake Woodford on a minor league deal last night shortly after he was outrighted by the White Sox. Unlike Woodford, Cessa hasn’t seen any major league action in 2024. He pitched fairly well in Triple-A, working to a 3.89 ERA through 39 1/3 innings for Kansas City’s top farm team in Omaha. Cessa had a modest 16.8% strikeout rate against a 9.2% walk percentage while starting 10 of his 11 appearances.
Cessa probably wouldn’t have had a chance to crack the K.C. rotation no matter how well he pitched. The Royals have gotten good work from each of Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Alec Marsh and Brady Singer. Wacha hit the injured list the day after Cessa was cut loose; the Royals have turned to Daniel Lynch IV to take the vacated rotation spot. Perhaps Cessa could’ve pitched his way into a shakier K.C. bullpen, but he doesn’t generate the kind of swing-and-miss that teams are generally seeking in the later innings.
The 32-year-old has been an effective long reliever in the past, running a 3.39 ERA over 112 appearances with the Yankees and Reds between 2019-21. He struggled to a 4.57 ERA in 80 2/3 frames in 2022 and had a particularly tough season last year. Cessa was tagged for 26 runs in as many innings over seven appearances (six starts) for Cincinnati. Subsequent minor league contracts with the Rockies and Nationals each resulted in an ERA above 8.00 and unsurprisingly kept him from returning to the majors.
Cessa and Woodford join Domingo Germán, Josh Fleming and Michael Plassmeyer as non-roster rotation depth in Indy. Braxton Ashcraft and Daulton Jefferies occupy 40-man roster spots and are optional assignment. The Pirates have Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller and Bailey Falter in the rotation after losing Quinn Priester to the injured list. They’ll need a fifth starter or to use a bullpen game during this weekend’s series in Colorado.
Can’t have enough pitching ⚾
Agree you can’t have enough pitching but I would go with younger arms not another 32 year old like Heller whose best days are behind them.
Ben Heller had a 3.86 era last year for Atlanta but YEP best days are behind him. Swear people don’t do any research before making comments.
And that did the Pirates a ton of good on Sunday.
I was there. It was approaching Rick Vaughn before glasses level of bad.
Like how long are you supposed to let guys up 7 run innings with 3 HBP at 32 before you pull the plug?
With all due respect then why didn’t Atlanta keep him and why don’t they get him now?
Can’t have enough good pitching. Signing other teams least wanted pitcher is only dumpster diving.
The Pirates need at least a couple of new relief pitchers and BC is signing as many minor league/ AAAA pitchers as he can to find one or two serviceable ones for use at the back of the bullpen.
Never any harm in making minor league contracts.
The Indians need them at the very least.
Also need starters for when Skenes and Jones hit their innings limit
You mean when they undergo Tommy John Surgery
Why not both?
You disgrace the name of mazeroski…yet another dump posting troll
You should rename yourself as Joe jockitch…no need for a troll like you to post idiotic posts
I don’t think he’s trolling. Skenes and jones are high velo/high strikeout pitchers that are young. It’s kind of a given they will be getting TJS or TOS at some point. It’s kind of in the job description at this point.
The two of them have like 14 of the 15 fastest pitches this year. From like 103 to 100.4. Them arms are struggling
And why is it a given that they will have tommy john. It’s amazing how this site has become the home of armchair managers and general managers….now we have armchair doctors.
It is not a given.There is nothing in baseball that is 100%.
It is probably only 85% sure.
You don’t want to see guys like this making starts down the stretch when they are fighting for a playoff spot. Maybe in a pinch if they really have to but it scares me.
“ fighting for a playoff spot “
The way they’re hitting the ball, they’ll be lucky to be playing for the last place in the division
I would think about calling up Ashcraft for a spot start vs the Rockies who haven’t been hitting all that well this season. If not, maybe German. I looked up his numbers in the minors, and while they are awful, he’s been a successful big leaguer, and just may be bored in AAA and I’d like to see if he can be useful to the team.
Jeez. He just got to Indy a couple days ago, and now your plan is to give him a spot start in the bigs?
They might not have much of a choice as their bullpen is not deep enough this year for bullpen games.
It would give Ashcraft a taste of the big leagues and a possible snapshot of what he could do.
If they get 3 or 4 decent innings from him it would be better than a bullpen game.
Shelton would just have to be smart enough to have someone quickly ready if he goes south like Heller did against the Dodgers.
“ Shelton would have to be smart enough “
Fat chance that will happen, he mismanages this team every chance he gets
Paul- I hesitated to use the words “smart” and “Shelton” in the same sentence.
German got a very late start and has not pitched well in AAA.
The Pirates generally use these situations as bonuses for doing well in the upper minor leagues.
It is the carrot on the end of the stick and I do not doubt that the minor league players know that.
Please not another bullpen game. Shelton does not know how to manage so he has enough relievers available in the following game.
So it’s Shelton’s fault Jones struggled through 5, and that Heller looked like he had never pitched professional baseball in his entire life.
At some point the personnel on the field have to factor into this somewhere.
I still blame Shelton since he had no one left to replace him. If he would have had a pitcher go another inning or even a batter or two he would still have someone in the pen to put out Heller’s three alarm fire. Most relievers can go an additional inning when you are short handed.
Especially considering that they were off on Monday
Shelton likely sees the option as a real positive given the Pirates staff of 3 starters and 2 reliever games in between over the last six weeks of last season. The fact that the Pirates somehow did reasonably well in that stretch would indicate their willingness to return to it, I’m sure
I’m a dinosaur. I like starters who can go deep in games. But how long before teams carry 13-14 pitchers on the big league roster and just decide dividing games up after 3-4 innings is the best way to keep hitters off balance?
I’m actually kind of surprised it’s not already “a thing” given that starters only go 5-6 innings anymore.
it’s not Shelton’s fault that Jones struggled to get through 5 innings but, he had only thrown 83 pitches and if his limit is 100, why didn’t he pitch the 6th?
Going to the bullpen early in that game especially since Jones hadn’t allowed a run since the first inning was a failure on Shelton’s part.
And when it became obvious that Heller was having trouble getting the ball over the plate, Shelton could have used a position player to pitch. Oliveras was available. He couldn’t have been any worse
Correction
Shelton doesn’t know how to manage his players, period
What business does Cruz have to be batting cleanup when he’s in the top 5 with strikeouts?
Gonzalez is a better hitter, yet he’s in the number 6 hole
Connor Joe is not a better hitter than Hayes yet Joe bats third and Hayes fifth is
Does anyone know if minor league players keep their jerseys when they are promoted/demoted, traded, or released?
Now that the PoRats picked up Cessna, they be going places! No longer have to wait for the bus to attend games
DDT- The problem is they could only find one “Cessna” to sign,and it only carries a few players.
They are keeping the bus.
Rebuilding pitching depth with the injuries and losing Lauer. Wish we would have never lost Lauer, but I like that Cherington is rebuilding the depth pitching.
Cessa is a decent option should more injuries arise. Team is playing well, so Cherington i trying to raise the floor should more injuries occur.
I liked Lauer too but his AAA era with Houston is 7.80 in three starts.He did not do a lot better in AAA for the Pirates.
Cherington is really having a bad year with free agent signings.
I’m not sure why this article lists Cessa as a “rotation pickup”. Cincinnati used him as a starter in Sept. 2022, then he pitched his way out of the majors as a starter the following season. At best, he could be a multi-inning bridge or mop-up pitcher – perhaps a decent one – he’s always been best as a “once through the lineup” kind of guy.
Given the state of Indy’s pitching staff (and its bullpen in general), adding Cessa is more about filling out that roster and hoping that maybe he pitches well enough to contribute to the big club at some point. Dombkowski is the better long-term answer internally for middle relief, but he’s got 6 games and 21 IP at the AAA level in his career. The rest of the Indy staff is a steaming pile of garbage.
All that being said, they’ve got to find a way to tread water with the pitching for at least a few weeks with the hope that Perez is close. I saw Borucki and Gonzales throwing before the Sunday game against the Twins, both guys said they felt good and were getting close when they came over to sign autographs for my son, but I can’t imagine either is back before the All-Star break.
“Treading water” is very apropos where this team is concerned. They have three starters who are stoppers and another guy in Falter who is the box of chocolates on staff. You never really know what you’re going to get
But here’s where the idea of treading water comes in. Just how long can they stay afloat. Perez and Gonzalez aren’t the answer, nor is Priester. I’d rather have Ortiz in place. Apparently Burrows is on track to return at some point but somehow, the team that goes bargain basement shopping opted not to bring Velasquez back, even after he looked quite good before surgery last year. Amazing
Your comments about Indy’s pitching staff are well taken. But I’m a little taken aback by the “progress” Chandler and Solometo have made at Altoona. Disappointing
Treading water. I get that some say the Pirates would be dangerous in a short series with their three guns. But hard to imagine this group getting there
Treading water more in the sense of trying out any and every arm they can in the next few weeks to find something that works to keep them in games. The only real thing I can figure with Ortiz is that his mindset seems so different when he’s pitching in relief. He comes out with the full repertoire and attacks out of the pen, he nibbles when he starts.
Santana at least got through 2 outs clean (better than Heller, but an incredibly low bar). If he could hold serve as a roughly 3.00 ERA bridge guy who could occasionally do leverage, that’s the best case for the Pirates, as only Borucki and Ortiz seem capable of that consistently. I have hope for Nicholas and Stratton as long as they’re kept away from leverage, but they desperately need another arm for the middle while Ortiz is serving in the bulk role.