Pirates Release Pitcher Dinesh Patel
PITTSBURGH (KDKA/AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates, who signed two pitchers from a reality TV show in India back in 2008, have released one of them.
Dinesh Patel, who pitched 7 1/3 innings with an 8.59 ERA in rookie ball, was released on Thursday.
Patel was the runner-up in the show, "Million Dollar Arm," in which scouts searched for pitchers with strong throwing arms.
The winner of the reality show, left-hander Rinku Singh, remains with the Bucs.
Singh advanced from rookie ball to short-season Class A last summer.
The Pirates also released two Taiwan prospects signed out of high school in 2009: pitcher Sheng-Cin Hong (14.18 ERA in 11 games at rookie level Bradenton) and first baseman Chih-Wei Hsu (.154 batting average in 16 games).
