SF Giants claim RHP Miguel Yajure off waivers from Pirates

The SF Giants acquired pitcher Miguel Yajure off waivers from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday, per a team press release. Yajure is a 24-year-old right-handed starter who has appeared in each of the past three MLB seasons. Yajure did shift to a bullpen role during his big-league stint in 2022, but started in almost all of his appearances at Triple-A. The Pirates designated Yajure for assignment at the start of the offseason.

Yajure was signed as an international free agent by the New York Yankees in 2014 for a $30,000 signing bonus. He quickly proved to be far more valuable than that. Yajure was fantastic in the lower minors and despite missing the 2017 season after undergoing UCL surgery, Yajure was considered one of the best prospects in the organization after an excellent 2019, where he recorded a 2.26 ERA in 127.2 innings with 122 strikeouts between High-A and Double-A.

Without a minor-league season in 2020, Yajure made his MLB debut with the Yankees, allowing just one run over seven innings pitched across three appearances. That offseason, however, the Yankees traded Yajure to the Pirates in a package for starting pitcher Jameson Taillon.

Yajure dealt with injuries in 2021, but posted a 3.09 ERA in 11 starts at Triple-A and was cuffed in four big-league appearances with the Pirates. In 2022, though, Yajure struggled in the minors as well. He recorded a 6.09 ERA in 16 Triple-A starts and surrendered 24 earned runs in 24.1 innings pitched across 12 appearances with the Pirates. He also walked as many big-league hitters as he struck out (16).

Despite his struggles, Yajure has youth and experience on his side. Yajure has always been considered a pitchability prospect, relying on a wide arsenal of pitches and above-average command. He lacks bigtime velocity, with a fastball that sits in the low-90s, but has the ability to give hitters different looks with a four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, changeup, curveball, and slider.

Assuming Miguel Yajure sticks with the SF Giants, the organization has had a lot of success taking pitchability prospects and helping them refine their arsenals to focus on whatever their best pitch is. Given the farm system's upper-minors depth of starting pitching, it seems likely that the Giants would try to convert Yajure to a relief role.

Published Dec 3, 2022

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).

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