Pirates’ Miguel Yajure, acquired in Jameson Taillon trade, aims high

Just 22 years old and with a mere 64 professional games at any level to his credit, Miguel Yajure isn’t afraid to shoot high in his first season with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

“I always have really, really (lofty) goals (in addition to modest) ones,” the young right-hander said during a video conference call with media Sunday. “The hard ones are try to make the All-Star team or (be named) rookie of the year. The little ones are just be healthy, throw all the season in the big leagues. Throw more than 200 innings. Something like that.”

Even those latter goals won’t be easy during the pandemic-affected 2021 season, as not even many established veteran pitchers will be asked to throw 200 innings. And with only seven major league innings on his resume, Yajure is considered a long shot to make the Pirates rotation when the regular season begins.

Still, even if Yajure isn’t selected for the Midsummer Classic or given the National League’s Jackie Robinson Award at this season’s end, he has enough promise that it wouldn’t be surprising if he was in the big league rotation sooner rather than later.

“The thing that I really like out of him is his ability to execute four pitches,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “He throws the ball around the plate. He goes after guys.”

Among the four players acquired from the New York Yankees in exchange for pitcher Jameson Taillon in January, Yajure figures to be the first to play in the majors. The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Yajure (pronounced Yah-hoo-ray) ascended into the list of the Yankees’ top-10 prospects (by Baseball America) within a few years after signing for $30,000 out of Venezuela in 2015.

I guess I like Miguel Yajure now pic.twitter.com/lLHKfQlP6K

— Jomboy (@Jomboy_) September 1, 2020

The others involved in the trade — fellow right-hander Roansy Contreras, outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba and infielder Maikol Escotto — are earlier in their professional development.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington loaded up for the future by making several deals in the offseason. Yajure, who sat out the 2017 season because of Tommy John surgery, might be one of the first recent trade acquisitions to make an impact.

Yajure’s game action this spring has been limited to one inning. He allowed a towering home run to Wander Franco but retired the other three batters he faced Wednesday in Port Charlotte, Fla., against the Tampa Bay Rays.

According to MLB’s official statistical service, during his brief MLB action last season, Yajure threw a four-seam fastball (92.4 mph average), changeup, curveball and cutter with an occasional slider. The changeup and curve, in small sample sizes of 33 and 26 pitches respectively, each had whiff rates of more than 30%.

#Yankees’ Miguel Yajure — the first player in MLB history to wear No. 89, which was the only number yet to be used in a big league game — needed just six pitches to retire the side in order in his debut. pic.twitter.com/aiM3qoFJZB

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 1, 2020

“Right now, I feel like I have a lot of control with my curveball,” Yajure said. “I throw it every bullpen, every game with confidence. I can control it really good.”

Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .