BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates made their first two post-lockout signings Tuesday, inking right-handed reliever Heath Hembree and first baseman Daniel Vogelbach to one-year deals.
Hembree's contract is for $2.215 million. Vogelbach's has $1 million guaranteed, $800K of which will be paid this season and then either a $200K buyout or $1.5 million club option.
Vogelbach, 29, slashed .219/.349/.381 with nine home runs and 24 RBIs over 258 plate appearances with the Brewers last season. He missed over two months with a hamstring injury, but he finished the year strong after returning in September, posting a .797 OPS over the final month of the season.
Vogelbach said he signed with the Pirates because he was looking for an opportunity to play.
"Anytime you get an opportunity, No. 1 to play in the big leagues, and No. 2 get an opportunity to play and perform, that's all you can ask for," Vogelbach told reporters at LECOM Park. "I'm excited to be here. It's a young and very talented group."
After being named an All-Star with the Mariners in 2019, Vogelbach has bounced around the league the last few years, being claimed by the Blue Jays and Brewers in 2020. The Brewers designated him for assignment after the 2021 season.
That 2019 season was a tale of two halves for the big lefty hitting first baseman. In the first half he hit 21 home runs and recorded an .881 OPS. In the second half, his strikeouts shot up, he hit only nine homers and he had a .626 OPS.
He has not been able to come close to replicating those power numbers again, though he believes he can still be a feared hitter.
"I'm a confident player," Vogelbach said. "I feel like you have to be a confident player in this league or you just get eaten alive. I believe in myself. I believe that I can hit."
Vogelbach has less than four years of service time in the majors, meaning the team could theoretically have two more years of control over his rights via arbitration.
On Monday, Ben Cherington implied that Yoshi Tsutsugo would get most of the reps at first base this season, signaling that Vogelbach could be used more as a designated hitter.
Vogelbach's full introductory interview can be found here:
Hembree, 33, is coming off a mixed season with the Mets and Reds. He recorded a 5.59 ERA over 58 innings, but his peripherals paint a much better story, striking out 34.2% of his batters faced.
Based on the number of whiffs and strikeouts he got and the quality of contact he surrendered, Baseball Savant forecasted that he had an expected batting average of .188 and slugging percentage of .349. Instead, batters hit .207 against him with a .419 slugging clip.
Those peripherals were not good enough for the Reds, who were hoping he could be a late-inning arm for the last season. While he ended up recording nine saves on the year, eight of which came with them, they let him go in mid-August after recording. He did finish on a better note with the Mets, allowing just four runs over 14 2/3 innings.
With the Pirates, Hembree could potentially find himself back in a late-inning role, especially since the team doesn't have many established options outside of David Bednar and Chris Stratton.
"You want to pitch in higher-leverage situations," Hembree said. "I also know that's earned, so right now I’m just here to get my feet back under me, get used to being back on the field and earning a spot at the back end of the bullpen."
Hembree's full introductory interview can be found here:
To open up room on the roster, the Pirates placed Blake Cederlind and Nick Mears on the 60-day injured list.
Cederlind is still recovering from Tommy John surgery he had last year, though a quick chat with him this morning confirmed he's progressing nicely. Mears had arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow on Feb. 9 to clean up scar tissue.
