By Dejan Kovacevic | 5:41 p.m. Thursday
The Pirates have traded pitchers John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny to the Chicago Cubs.
Details to come.
UPDATE 5:50 p.m.: Pitchers Kevin Hart and Jose Ascanio are the return, according to ESPN Chicago.
5:52 p.m.: The above is official, and add third baseman Josh Harrison to the return.
5:57 p.m.: Gorzelanny will be assigned to Class AAA Iowa.
5:59 p.m.: Hart will join the Pirates immediately. Ascanio will go to Class AAA Indianapolis, Harrison to Class A Lynchburg.
6:05 p.m.: Hart, a 26-year-old right-hander, was 3-1 with a 2.60 ERA in eight games for the Cubs this year, including four starts. He won his last outing this afternoon in allowing three earned runs to Houston over six innings.
He entered the season as Chicago's No. 6 prospect, as rated by Baseball America. With Iowa, he went 3-3 with three saves and a 3.10 ERA, making his first 16 appearances in relief, then going 3-0 with a 1.41 ERA and .157 opponents' batting average in six starts.
In 146 games in the minors, including 100 starts, Hart has 575 strikeouts and 224 walks in 604 1/3 innings.
Neal Huntington, on Hart: "He is a right-handed pitcher with the size, pitch arsenal and make-up to be a solid major league starting pitcher or late inning reliever. He pitches as a starter with a live fastball in the low 90s and has been in the mid-to-upper 90s as a reliever. He also has the ability to complement his fastball with a quality curveball, solid slider and changeup."
This is Hart's official page.
6:12 p.m.: Ascanio, a 24-year-old right-handed reliever, also split this season between Chicago and Iowa. He was 0-1 with a 3.52 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 14 appearances with the Cubs. He was rated to have the best fastball among Southern League in 2007.
Huntington: "Ascanio is a right-handed pitcher with a solid pitch arsenal. He possesses above average velocity on his four-seam fastball, a major league caliber slider and changeup, as a well as a solid sinker. He has the traits to pitch as a starter or out of the pen at the major league level."
This is Ascanio's page.
6:16 p.m.: Harrison, 22, hit a combined .327 with five home runs, 20 doubles, eight triples, 42 RBIs and 26 steals for low Class A Peoria and high Class A Daytona. Since joining Daytona, Harrison has seven multiple-hit games out of 18 while being named the Florida State League's player of the week in the past week after batting .423 with seven steals.
Huntington, on Harrison: "Harrison is an intriguing athletic player with a quality combination of makeup, hitting ability and speed. While he has the athletic ability to play multiple positions, we are interested in developing him as a second baseman."
This is Harrison's page.
8:03 p.m.: Ascanio will be in the starting rotation at Indianapolis.
Posted
Jul 30 2009, 05:41 PM
by
Dejan Kovacevic