The Pirates didn’t make a splash in September, but they did bring in a familiar name with real upside.
On Sept. 4, Pittsburgh signed outfielder Kyler Fedko to a minor-league deal and sent him to Triple-A Indianapolis. Fedko, a Pittsburgh native, grew up in Gibsonia, Pa., and made his mark at Vincentian Academy in McCandless, Pa., where he starred from 2015-18 before moving on to UConn and then the Minnesota Twins.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington explained the move on the latest edition of The Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan, making clear that the local angle was secondary to what Fedko can do on the field.
“Well, he’s got skills," Cherington said. "He’s been a strong performer in Triple-A.
He can do a lot of different things on the field. Base running, some power, defense, great kid.
"Situation where the Pirates have been in the same situation in the past, but a situation where the Twins needed a roster spot. He was hurt.
You can’t put a hurt player, at that time, you can’t put a hurt player through waivers. So if you want to remove them, the only way you can do that is to release them, and that’s what they did.
They obviously felt they needed the roster spot.
"So he becomes a free agent, where normally, a player like that goes on waivers if you’re taking them up, but he’s hurt, so he can’t do that, so he becomes a free agent.
"We’re talking to him; other teams are talking to him. I don’t know; the local connection obviously is cool, and that will be an added layer if he comes and helps us win games in Pittsburgh. That’ll be frosting on it, but we are interested in him is not because of that is because we really like the skills, think he’s a good player..."
Fedko’s background gives the signing some extra local flavor. At Vincentian, he was one of Pennsylvania’s top players and helped lead the program to PIAA titles in 2016 and 2018. He’s also the son of former WPXI sports director and anchor John Fedko, who hosted the Fedko Fone Zone.
After high school, Fedko spent three years at UConn from 2019-21 and picked up All-American and top Big East honors before the Twins drafted him in the 12th round in 2021.
He’s already shown he can produce in the minors. In 75 games with Triple-A St.
Paul, Fedko hit .274/.362/.545 with a .907 OPS and 17 home runs. His brief time with Minnesota went in a much tougher direction, though, as he went hitless in 19 plate appearances between June 10 and July 15.
Cherington also said Fedko is dealing with a serious knee injury - a torn ACL, MCL and LCL - and won’t be back until the latter part of next season.
“...Our hope is that we can see that through with him and then keep him in the organization after that further. We think this is a player who can contribute at some point, but he’s got a pretty good recovery still to go now.”
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