Season Recap: 2022 Rule 5 draft, minor league phase
A look back at the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft.
The Pittsburgh Pirates turned heads during the minor league phase of the Rule 5 drafts, losing 11 players total.
Overall, the Rule 5 draft is on the overhyped side of things, generally not creating the type of impact it is made to have. The Pirates hit on their Rule 5 selection, taking left-handed reliever Jose Hernandez during the major league portion.
They did lose Blake Sabol to the Cincinnati Reds and, eventually, the San Francisco Giants, but cases like that are far between.
It’s even more so during the minor league phase, but it stands out when an organization loses 11 players for nothing.
Here’s a look at each player the Pirates lost in that draft and how they fared in 2023.
Joelvis Del Rosario
Del Rosario, the most intriguing name of the bun, had one of the better seasons of any Bradenton starter in 2022. In 20 games (19 starts), Del Rosario posted a 3.68 ERA, striking out 74 batters across 93 innings pitched.
Seeing how stacked the Greensboro rotation was during the season, there wasn’t much room for him, but setting it up to lose him for nothing seemed odd.
Taken by the Oakland Athletics, Del Rosario pitched the majority of the year in High-A, with an additional five games in Double-A Midland. He posted a 5.37 ERA in 104 innings pitched, striking out 85 and walking 37.
Joe Jacques
The Red Sox took the left-handed, side-arm-throwing Joe Jacques, eventually making his major league debut in 2023. In 23 games, Jacques posted a 5.06 ERA in the majors while also picking up a save.
Wilkin Ramos
Ramos posted a 3.88 record with 58 strikeouts in 51 innings, winning four games with the Marauders in 2022. He was taken by the New York Mets, finishing the year in Double-A Binghamton.
He posted a 2.50 ERA in the Mets organization, with 67 strikeouts in 57.2 innings pitched. Ramos struck over 30% of the batters he faced in Double-A but walked nearly 20%, a reoccurring theme for him throughout the minors.
Domingo Gonzalez
Gonzalez getting picked up by the Atlanta Braves was a funny story. I wrote an article about the success he found after switching to the bullpen on P2, but we put it on hold to get through the Rule 5 draft and keep it from getting buried.
Then the Braves took him, and I had to rework the entire article to fit the fact he was no longer with the organization.
Pitching in Double-A last year, Gonzalez struck out over 30% of the batters he faced while posting a 4.19 ERA in 53.2 innings thrown.
Austin Roberts
Coming back from the lost COVID season, Roberts struck out 159 batters in 114 innings between 2021 and 2022. He was one of the few relievers to strike out over 100 batters in a season back in 2021.
He was eventually claimed by the Miami Marlins, splitting 2023 between Double and Triple-A, posting a 5.72 ERA in 72.1 innings pitched.
Jared Oliva
Leaving Oliva ‘unprotected’ from the minor league portion seemed like a calculated move to clear out from the roster crunch that is the outfield picture in the upper levels.
He spent all season with the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate, slashing .261/.348/.423 with eight home runs, 16 stolen bases, and a wRC+ of 88.
Trey McGough
A 24th-round pick out of Mount Saint Mary’s, McGough missed the majority of the 2023 season due to Tommy John surgery he had the previous year. He returned towards the end of the season and pitched 20.2 innings, striking out 22 and posting a 3.05 ERA in the Orioles’ system.
When healthy and back during his time in the Pirates system, he was known to have some of the best control in the organization.
Enmanuel Mejia
He was named the Pirates reliever of the year in 2021 for posting a 0.42 ERA in 32 games between Bradenton and Greensboro. Mejia couldn’t repeat the success the following year in Altoona, putting up an ERA of 5.80.
Heading to Tampa Bay, Mejia made it up to Triple-A in 2023 with a 3.91 ERA while striking out 74 in 50.2 innings across two levels.
Cristian Charle
Another intriguing reliever in the lower levels, Charle, was picked up by the Marlins and struck out 67 batters in 64.2 innings while putting up a 3.20 ERA across three levels, with the final stop being Triple-A.
Before that, he posted a 2.52 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 53.2 innings with Bradenton and Greensboro in 2022.
Peter Solomon
One of three players with major league experience here, Solomon pitched 13.1 innings with the Diamondbacks this past season and another 54 in Triple-A. He was DFA on May 29 and outrighted to Triple-A on June 1. He elected free agency once the season ended.
Yoyner Farado
Farado had a strong season in Double-A, slashing .305/.375/.446, scoring 75 runs, stealing 50 bases, and posting a 118 wRC+. After playing some infield with the Pirates, he played exclusively in the outfield in the Twins’ system.
Josh palacios is who they gained in the minor league Rule 5. I prefer palacios to these 11
Time will tell, but I'm inclined to believe that the minors Rule 5 draft is primarily used by front offices just to fill up the next seasons rosters with org guys. A little short in pitching? No worries, the Rule 5 will fix that.