During the offseason, the Tribune-Review will offer Pirates A to Z: An alphabetical player-by-player look at the 40-man roster, from outfielder Anthony Alford to pitcher Miguel Yajure.

Player: Miguel Yajure

Position: Pitcher

Throws: Right

Bats: Right

Age: 23

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 220 pounds

2021 MLB statistics: Yajure was 0-2 with an 8.40 ERA and 1.60 WHIP in 15 innings over four appearances, including three starts.

Contract: Not eligible for arbitration until 2025.

Acquired: In a trade with the New York Yankees, along with Roansy Contreras, Maikol Escotto and Canaan Smith-Njigba, for Jameson Taillon in January.

This past season: Yajure ignored the ringing phone from an unknown caller in January, only to learn that it was Yankees general manager Brian Cashman attempting to get in touch.

Next thing he knew, Yajure was flooded with text messages. That’s how he found out the only organization he knew — one that signed him to a $30,000 bonus out of Venezuela — had traded him to the Pirates.

“So it was tough,” Yajure said. “It was a weird experience.”

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington called Yajure “the most advanced” of the four players acquired for Taillon, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2010 MLB Draft. Yajure had pitched three games in relief for the Yankees in 2020, so he had major league experience and a reputation for pitching with control while relying on his off-speed and breaking pitches.

Yajure set goals for the season, some modest and others lofty.

“The hard ones are try to make the All-Star team or (be named) rookie of the year,” Yajure said in March. “The little ones are just be healthy, throw all the season in the big leagues. Throw more than 200 innings. Something like that.”

Yajure didn’t come close to reaching his goals, big or small.

Yajure made his Pirates debut April 21, pitching the second game of a doubleheader at Detroit. He allowed four runs on four hits — including two home runs — and two walks while striking out four in a 5-2 loss.

“My focus and my mindset was to make sure I’m throwing strikes, attack the hitters and attack them with my best pitches,” Yajure said. “Go in there aggressive, being who I am, and just being alert of the game and attacking and throwing strikes throughout the game.”

Pirates manager Derek Shelton called it “an impressive start for a young kid,” noting Yajure’s ability to throw strikes and attack the strike zone even though he gave up homers to Niko Goodrum and Jonathan Schoop.

“It’s one of the things when we acquired him that we liked that people from the Yankees talked to us about when we talked to them about what kind of kid we were getting,” Shelton said. “My big takeaways are that he painted the zone.”

Yajure’s highlight came when he tossed five scoreless innings in a 3-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on May 14, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out four in a game the Pirates won on a Gregory Polanco sacrifice fly in the 11th.

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— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 15, 2021

Yajure went back and forth between the majors and Triple-A Indianapolis, where he was 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA and 1.00 WHIP with 17 strikeouts in as many innings in three starts before going on the injured list with a sore right forearm.

After being sidelined for two months, Yajure was called up in late September to make two more starts. He surrendered two home runs in each of them, starting with an 8-6 loss at Philadelphia on Sept. 24 where he gave up three runs on five hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings.

“It feels really good because after these first couple months being out of the big leagues and coming back, I was feeling really confident,” Yajure said. “It was really good competing. I learned that I need to make more pitches with command.”

The problem was that the velocity on Yajure’s four-seamer dipped from 92.3 mph in 2020 to an average of 90.6, making it too easy to hit. Yajure got roughed up in a 9-0 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 30, allowing seven runs on seven hits and two walks in two innings.

“It’s been a really tough season because of injuries, a lot of things changing in my mechanics, and it’s been really hard work to find my rhythm and everything,” Yajure said. “I think that’s something I have to work on in the offseason, to try to find my really good rhythm and come back without thinking anything about my mechanics. …

“I learned I have to take advantage of the opportunity. This time, I didn’t take advantage. I think you have to keep working. It’s a really bad taste, it made me feel so mad and I will try to do my best during the offseason and try to come back stronger.”

The future: Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin credited Yajure for a “great start to the season” but didn’t deny that his forearm injury took a toll. Marin said the Pirates are looking for Yajure to bounce back.

“Obviously, the velocity’s not there, which we anticipate coming back at some point as well,” Marin said. “But that’s just the biggest thing for him: Being able to control all of his pitches in the zone, being able to use all quadrants as well.”

Now that the Pirates have parted ways with Steven Brault, Trevor Cahill and Chad Kuhl, there are opportunities for young pitchers to crack the starting rotation. That makes this an important offseason for Yajure, who will have plenty of competition for a starting spot.

“I’m excited because I know (that) here, there are a lot of opportunities, and I think I can do a really good job,” Yajure said. “So I need to keep working, keep my head up and just wait until the next year.”

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