The Pirates added another left-handed pitcher to their bullpen by signing Justin Briuhl to a major-league contract Thursday.
Briuhl, 26, attended spring training as a non-roster invitee with the Reds and was 4-0 with a 2.31 ERA in 19 appearances at Class AAA Louisville this season. He allowed six runs and struck out 24 batters in 23 1/3 innings before opting out of his contract and being granted his release from the Reds on Monday. He quickly received an offer from the Pirates in the 24 hours that followed.
"I think we wanted to add another left-hander in, left on left guy, has the ability to execute a slider, which was important for us," Derek Shelton said. "It was a guy we identified in the offseason, liked a little bit, ended up signing in Cincinnati and then the fact that he had an opt out in his contract, we were able to acquire him."
Since debuting in 2021, Briuhl has made 72 career big-league appearances, sporting a 4.22 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP over 70 1/3 innings with the Dodgers and Rockies. He's been known to frequently perform well against left-handed hitters, limiting them to a career .190 batting average and keeping them from going deep in 131 plate appearances. He's typically found success with his sinker and slider to left-handed hitters, while going to his cutter and slider to righties.
"Just come in and get lefties out. I think that's what I do best," Briuhl told reporters Thursday. "I think this is a solid spot to do that."
Considering he still hasn't found a consistent major-league home, Briuhl hopes to find some stability with the Pirates, a team that now has a pair of left-handed options in their bullpen with Briuhl and Aroldis Chapman.
"Just hopefully somewhere I can stick," he said. "I haven't really had a lot of that the last few years but just trying to find some stability would be great."
Briuhl said he would be available out of the bullpen tonight if needed. And he wouldn't hate an opportunity to face off against his former team.
"Funny story, after I got traded to the Rockies last year, my first two outings were back in L.A. against them," Briuhl said. "Didn't go great for me, so I think, yeah, it would be nice to have a good inning against them today."
Two additional roster moves were made to make room for Briuhl on the 26 and 40-man rosters. Quinn Priester was placed on the 15-day injured list -- retroactive to June 3 -- with a right lat muscle injury and Ryan Borucki was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
