Position: RHP
Height: 6’6”
Weight: 242 lbs
Bats/Throws: R/R
Born: 09/13/1996
College: Rollins College
How Acquired: Draft 17th round, 504th Overall, 2018
Bonus: $100,000
40-man Roster: No
Rule 5 Eligible: Yes
Minor League Free Agency: 2024
Options Left: 3
Overview
Case was listed by MLB.com at 6′ 6″, but is listed on the Rollins baseball page at 6′ 7″. At Rollins, he had a 3.46 ERA in 96.1 innings in 2018, with a 74:16 K:BB ratio. The strikeouts actually took a dip from 2017, dropping from 102 in 90.2 innings. There wasn’t a lot of information on Case, between the small school and the fact that he wasn’t listed in BA’s top 500 or its Florida rankings. The big frame no doubt made him intriguing to the Pirates, especially since he’d shown good control. In his early games in the GCL, he was throwing a four-seam fastball at 94 mph, a two-seamer at 89-91, and a slider that he threw from a three-quarters arm slot. The slider is his out pitch, and he also throws a cutter and change.
2018-20
In 2018, Case initially pitched out of the rotation in the GCL, as the Pirates wanted him to make some mechanical changes. He was shaky at first, but dominated in his last three games. The Pirates moved him up to Bristol for two starts, one of which went well and one of which didn’t. He finished his season with a start at West Virginia.
In 2019, the Pirates put Case in the rotation at Greensboro, a surprising move for a dark horse draft pick, but the move worked out. Case was very successful there and earned a mid-season promotion to Bradenton, a lot of it by simply not walking anybody as he had a miniscule 0.4 BB/9. He also benefited from an extremely low batting average on balls in play of .221. Even with the unsustainable BABIP, his xFIP was good, at 3.38. Case had more trouble at Bradenton, with opponents batting .264 against him, as opposed to .195 at Greensboro. He also had some trouble with gopher balls, allowing 11. He didn’t pitch in 2020.
2021-22
In 2021, the Pirates sent Case to Altoona, where he pitched in relief apart from two starts. He threw strikes, but otherwise mostly struggled, getting hit very hard. Opponents had a 295/350/520 line against him and he allowed a home run every five innings.
A little surprisingly, the Pirates sent Case to Indianapolis to start the 2022 season. He pitched well through six games except for one meltdown in which he allowed seven earned run in an inning and a third. A couple games after that the team sent him to Altoona and he spent the rest of the year there. He pitched reasonably well, although a couple of bad outings again hurt his numbers. He threw just over 70 innings on the year, nearly all in long relief. What trouble Case had generally came from left-handed hitters, who had an .883 OPS against him, compared to .674 for right-handed hitters.
2023-24
In 2023, Case converted to throwing from a low sidearm angle. After the change, he was throwing from the upper-80s to low-90s and still relying a lot on a slider. Between an early-season injury, some development assignments as he worked on the new motion, and a number of re-assignments, he had a very disjointed season, pitching for all five domestic affiliates. He mostly struggled quite a bit.
In 2024, Case missed two and a half months out of the middle of the season with an injury. When he pitched, it was mainly in relief for Altoona. His control was good, as he walked only 2.2 per nine innings, but he was hittable, striking out only 5.2. Opponents batted .285 against him, but he still managed a 3.19 ERA. Case made two appearances with Indianapolis early in the season, one of which went well while the other didn’t.
Stats
Transactions
June 6, 2018: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 17th round, 504th overall pick; signed on June 11.