FRANQUELIS OSORIA

9/12/81; NDFA '99 (Los Angeles); Dominican Republic
R/R; 5-11, 200

Level	W-L-Sv	G	GS	IP	H	BB	K	ERA
2002 A+ (LA)	0-1-0	3	0	7.1	4	2	10	2.45
2002 A (LA)	2-2-1	21	1	43.1	40	13	30	3.32
2003 A+ (LA)	3-6-6	33	3	75.0	69	19	53	3.00
2004 AAA (LA)	0-0-0	4	0	8.1	13	1	3	6.48
2004 AA (LA)	8-5-5	51	0	81.0	71	18	73	3.67

Level	W-L-Sv	G	GS	IP	H	BB	K	ERA	OAVG	OOBP	OSLG
2005 NL (LA)	0-2-0	24	0	29.2	28	8	15	3.94	.259	.328	.370
2005 AAA (LA)	6-4-9	40	0	55.0	63	13	35	2.62	.299	.349	.393
2006 NL (LA)	0-2-0	12	0	17.2	27	9	13	7.13	.360	.435	.560
2006 AAA (LA)	2-2-2	44	0	51.2	81	21	28	4.35	.362	.429	.458
2007 NL	0-2-0	25	0	28.1	33	8	13	4.76	.289	.357	.386
2007 AAA	2-5-11	39	0	54.2	51	19	33	2.63	.249	.335	.335

The Pirates continued their quest to corner the market on marginal relievers by claiming Osoria from the Dodgers off waivers in December 2006.  At the time, the move left them with 15 relievers on their 40-man roster.  Hopefully, new GM Neal Huntington will find a worthier obsession—such as hitters or starting pitchers—with which to replace Dave Littlefield's reliever fetish. Anyway, Osoria, who has a sixth digit on his right hand, fit the Pirates' preference under Littlefield for groundball pitchers who don't fan many batters. Unlike many of the team's pitchers Osoria has good control. He throws a mid- to upper-80s sinker from a three-quarters angle.  He's largely a one-pitch pitcher, although he throws a slider that doesn't look much different from his sinker.  In the minors he was tougher on RH batters than LH.  In the majors the difference has been radical: .580 OPS against RH batters, 1.141 against LH.  His groundout to air out ratio has generally been well over 2.00.

After the Pirates signed Tony Armas, Jr., they removed Osoria from the 40-man roster. He cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA. He pitched well there, but still had a low K rate and a large platoon split. When many of their relief prospects struggled, the Pirates put Osoria back on the roster and called him up in early August. He pitched well at first, with an ERA of 1.98 in August, but the hitters started getting to him in September and his ERA for the month was 7.36. Jim Tracy, who seemed enthralled by players who were with him in LA, used Osoria heavily, maybe in part due to a shortage of options. Overall, he was very hittable, especially against LH batters, who batted .353 against him. He didn't walk or fan many hitters. Osoria's lack of ability to produce swings and misses makes him best suited to long relief, but his inability to get LH hitters out makes it hard for him to get very far through a lineup.

Oddly, although Huntington has generally shown a preference for power pitchers in the bullpen, he seemed to become enamored with Osoria as well.  Osoria went into spring training as a favorite to make the roster, then secured a spot with a strong spring.  The obsession with Osoria isn't easy to understand.  He's a one-pitch pitcher who rarely misses bats, has a career major league ERA of 5.00, and turns every LH hitter into Barry Bonds.  He's the epitome of a borderline reliever, yet the Pirates seem to think his track record never happened.  Maybe they forgot to check the back of his bubble gum card.  As it turned out, Osoria pitched miserably for four months and, after inexplicably sticking with him through one bad outing after another, the Pirates finally designated him for assignment to make room for Craig Hansen.  He cleared waivers for the second time in two years, proving conclusively that the Pirates' baffling regard for him hasn't been shared by any other team.  He was assigned to Indianapolis and became a free agent after the season.

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