So far, Cessa has not played in the MLB this season and was released by the Kansas City Royals on June 1. However, his Triple-A statistics are impressive: in 10 appearances, he has an ERA of 3.89 over 39 1/3 innings, with a strikeout rate of 16.8%.
Cessa’s arrival follows the recent addition of Jake Woodford, bolstering a pitching staff that already includes Domingo Germán, Josh Fleming, Michael Plassmeyer, and Paul Skenes, among others.
This strategy by the Pirates aims to add depth and improve the team’s performance as they currently contend for wild card spots in the National League and they are six games below the Milwaukee Brewers for the leadership in the division.