JOSE ASCANIO

5/2/85; NDFA '01 (Atlanta); Venezuela
R/R; 6-0, 170

Level

W-L-Sv

BB/9

K/9

WHIP

OAVG

ERA

2003 R (Atl)

4-0-0

26.1

1.7

5.8

1.18

.271

1.37

2004 A (Atl)

3-3-9

65.2

2.1

8.8

1.11

.227

3.84

2005 A+ (Atl)

3-1-0

20.2

3.9

5.2

1.69

.310

6.10

2006 AA (Atl)

4-2-0

38.0

4.0

8.8

1.42

.253

4.26

2006 A+ (Atl)

1-1-0

31.0

5.8

6.7

1.87

.314

4.94

2007 NL (Atl)

1-1-0

16.0

3.4

7.3

1.44

.254

5.06

2007 AA (Atl)

2-2-10

78.0

2.1

8.2

1.08

.234

2.54

2008 NL (ChiC)

0-0-0

5.2

6.4

4.8

2.12

.348

7.94

2008 AAA (ChiC)

2-1-11

54.2

3.8

9.5

1.41

.254

5.10

2009 NL (ChiC)

0-1-0

15.1

5.3

10.6

1.76

.295

3.52

2009 NL

0-1-0

2.2

0.0

6.8

1.50

.444

6.75

2009 AAA (ChiC)

2-4-0

51.1

3.2

8.2

1.27

.247

3.16

2009 AAA

0-1-0

6.2

1.4

12.2

1.05

.240

2.70

The Pirates acquired Ascanio from the Cubs, along with RHP Kevin Hart and 2B Josh Harrison, in exchange for LHPs John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny. Ascanio ranked as the Braves' 11th best prospect going into the 2005 season due to a power arm that allowed him to reach 97 with his fastball. He suffered a fracture in his back, however, and largely lost the 2005 season. He also had disciplinary issues and the Braves ultimately shopped him around, although Baseball America still rated him the 21st best prospect in their system going into 2006. There was some concern about how well he'd recover from the fracture and he had a poor 2006 season, but he bounced back in 2007 and reached the majors. The Braves then traded him to the Cubs for Will Ohman and Omar Infante. He was still on the prospect map, as BA rated him 25th in the Cubs' system before the 2008 season. Ascanio had another bad year in 2008, but bounced back again prior to the trade in 2009.

Ascanio's fastball sits in the mid-90s and the Pirates like his sinker. He's become somewhat more of a groundball pitcher as he's moved up; Pirates' GM Neal Huntington is very found of the combination of groundballs and strikeouts. Ascanio's secondary pitches, a slider and change, haven't been as effective, which may explain the fact that he's struggled with LH batters. He has, however, maintained mostly very good K rates, including his brief major league trials. He's also seldom allowed HRs, with the exception of 2008 for some reason. He never got a significant chance as a starter until 2009 and has done well, keeping his K rate up and keeping the ball in the park. The Pirates planned to put him in the Indianapolis rotation after the trade and regard him as potentially either a starter or reliever. He was expected to start some games in the majors in September, but went out in August with a sore shoulder. His rehab was supposedly going well and he was expected to pitch a couple times in relief in the season's last week or so, but the Pirates transferred him to the 60-day DL when they claimed Anthony Claggett off waivers.

Unfortunately, it turned out Ascanio's rehab didn't go well at all. He underwent labrum surgery a couple days before the end of the season. At best he'll probably miss most of next season, although it's likely to be a moot point, anyway. The success rate for pitchers recovering from labrum surgery remains extremely low. Even worse, Ascanio has no options remaining. He'll probably need at least a year in the minors after the surgery, but the Pirates will only be able to send him on a 30-day rehab assignment. Even if they designate him for assignment and he clears waivers, he'll become a minor league free agent after the season. As a result of all this, the odds of him ever contributing to the Pirates at the major league level are very low.

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