The Pittsburgh Pirates have announced three additional players have been extended non-roster invites to spring training, which kicks off in just a few days.

Free agent pitcher signings Wily Peralta, Connor Sadzeck, and Brent Honeywell are the newest NRIs to head to Bradenton for the Pirates.

Peralta spent the 2023 season with Washington’s Triple-A affiliate, the Rochester Red Wings. He was deployed as a starting pitcher in Rochester, recording a 3-8 record with a 6.31 ERA over 102.2 innings pitched.

The 34-year old pitcher struggled mightily in Rochester, but it’s important to note that it his work as a starter prior to last season was limited. The Detroit Tigers had him start 18 games in 2021, but other than that he had not regularly started games since 2016.

In 2022, Peralta’s last season in the major leagues, he played much better as a bullpen arm, recording a 2.58 ERA over 38.1 innings.

He’ll be hoping for a big bounce back in Pittsburgh, but as his age continues to climb that comeback looks harder and harder. Still, he has shown himself to be a capable pitcher in the past. It should be interesting to see if he can rekindle that. Peralta has 258 major league games to his name.

Connor Sadzeck brings with him far less experience. The 32-year old Sadzeck pitched a mere 3.0 innings in 2022, and has not pitched regularly in the major leagues since 2019.

In 2019, Sadzeck pitched 20 games for the Seattle Mariners, where he recorded a respectable 2.66 ERA. After not playing in 2020, Sadzeck split time playing for Triple-A Charlotte (the White Sox affiliate) and Triple-A Nashville (the Brewers affiliate). He put up a measly 4.84 ERA in total during the season.

Last season, Sadzeck got into 25 games for Nashville; where he again struggled, putting up a 5.40 ERA.

Also getting an invite is Brent Honeywell.

Honeywell has the most recent experience of these three. He pitched in 40 total games in the majors last season. Of those 40, 36 came with the San Diego Padres, where Honeywell pitched 46.2 innings, including finishing 10 games.

Honeywell put up a 4.05 ERA with the Padres, which represents the bulk of his major league career.

An interesting pitcher with a unique skill set, Honeywell, in my opinion, has the best chance to make the major league roster for the Pirates.

At 28 years old, he certainly isn’t a rookie, but he’s young enough that there could still be some untapped potential within him.

Of course, there’s no guarantee that any of these players make it through spring training, but they do provide some unique angles as the baseball season gets underway. Should be fun.

(Featured photo of Brent Honeywell by Tailyr Irvine/Tampa Bay Times)