Today the Pittsburgh Pirates announced the signing of 38-year-old right handed starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong to a one-year deal. The former Bucco, from 2001-2006, has a career ERA of 4.45, 58 wins and 68 losses, in 165 career starts. Terms to this contract have yet to be confirmed. Last season the pitcher made $4 million starting for the San Francisco Giants.
Vogelsong was originally drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the fifth round of the 1998 amateur draft. Debuting at age 23 against the Chicago Cubs in 2000, he was eventually traded by the San Francisco Giants along with right fielder Armando Rios, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jason Schmidt and John Vander Wal.
For the next five seasons the Charlotte, North Carolina native played in a Bucs uniform having his strongest season in 2005 where he posted a 4.43 ERA, pitching in only 81 innings. The other four seasons saw his ERA inflate well above six. Following his final season in 2006, Vogelsong left as a free agent for the Hanshin Tigers in Japan. In 2010 he signed a minor league deal with Philadelphia before finding himself back in San Francisco.
Vogelsong’s best career season was witnessed in 2011. The All-Star season ended with him winning 13 games and finishing with a 2.71 ERA. Since that season, Vogelsong has been struggled to keep his ERA below four.
Baseball-Reference projections for Vogelsong in the 2016 season are seven wins, 10 losses, a 4.50 ERA with 110 strikeouts, 70 earned runs and 140 innings pitched. This move has all the looks of a new reclamation project for the Pirates pitching staff. Missing Jim Benedict’s services, the Pirates will look to Ray Searage for retooling Vogelsong’s approach to the mound.
