Former Dodgers RHP Designated for Assignment by Pirates

Another old friend alert around the league.

Baseball rosters are still getting settled around the league and, as such, former Dodgers players still have chances to gain or lose jobs. That is the case for one time LA pitching prospect, Edwin Uceta, who was designated for assignment by the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday.

We have placed C Austin Hedges on the 7-day Concussion Injured List, and selected C Tyler Heineman from Triple-A Indianapolis.

To make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Edwin Uceta was designated for assignment.

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 4, 2023

Since he last pitched for the Dodgers, Uceta has been on quite the adventure. He was DFA'd by LA following the 2021 season and claimed by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He spent the 2022 season going up and down with the D-backs with most of his time coming at the Triple-A level.

This past January, Uceta was DFA'd again, this time by Arizona where he was claimed on waivers by the Detroit Tigers. At the end of spring training, the Tigers DFA'd Edwin and he was picked up by the Pirates. Two days later, he was DFA'd again.

At one time, the right-hander was one of the top pitching prospects in the Dodger organization. However, that may have been more of a display of the weakness of the farm system than his pitching prowess. Originally signed as an international free agent by LA in 2016, his best season as a pro came as a 21 year old in 2019 where he put together a 2.77 ERA over 26 games (24 starts) across two minor league levels.

He still possesses a low-to-mid-90s fastball and occasionally nice curveball but has trouble keeping runners off the base paths. Uceta has allowed 52 baserunners over 37.1 major league innings and owns a 6.27 lifetime ERA.

The Pirates will attempt to pass him through waivers and outright him to the minor leagues. If he does pass through waivers, he'll have the chance to elect free agency.