BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates are adding another reliever to their potential opening day bullpen mix, signing right-hander Austin Brice, per source.
The minor-league deal with a spring training invite is pending a physical.
Terms of the deal if he reaches the majors are not yet known.
Brice, 29, has pitched parts of six seasons in the majors with the Marlins, Reds and, most recently, Red Sox. He allowed 10 runs over 13 2/3 innings with a dozen strikeouts in the majors last season, and a 3.27 ERA over 33 innings in Class AAA.
He features two fastballs, though he mostly relies on a high four-seamer, and a high-spin curve that gets roughly 2,700 RPM of spin.
Brice's Red Sox tenure did not go particularly smoothly, though in 2020 he featured the highest whiff rate on his fastball of all major league pitchers (min. 100 pitches). He recorded a 3.43 ERA over 36 games with the Marlins in 2019.
He will enter this camp with an opportunity to join a fairly wide-open bullpen. At the moment, the only players the Pirates can confidently pencil into their bullpen are David Bednar, Chris Stratton and Heath Hembree, who signed a one-year major-league deal on Tuesday.
"If you’re talking about opportunities, the Pirates’ camp is going to be leading baseball in opportunities," manager Derek Shelton told reporters after the team's first workout Tuesday.
While it's not known if Brice has an opt-out on his deal, it is fairly standard for veterans who sign non-roster contracts deep into spring. He has up to three years of team control remaining with no minor-league options available.
The signing comes on the second day of formal workouts at LECOM Park for spring training and two days away from the team's first spring training game against the Yankees.
