May 4, 2014 4 min read

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Back in January, for the first time since Baseball America began publishing its rankings of prospects 14 years ago, the Pittsburgh Pirates were rated No. 1 in minor-league talent.

That was good news for long-suffering Pirates fans, who are waiting for general manager Neal Huntington’s build-through-the-draft philosophy to pay dividends.

That, however, was bad news for the career of Zac Fuesser, one of the many young pitchers who were stockpiled in the Pirates’ system.

The left-handed Fuesser was caught in the numbers game this spring and released after five years in the Pirates organization.

“I had a few good years with the Pirates and kept improving, kept getting better. It was a great experience. I regret nothing. I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world,” said Fuesser, native of York. S.C., who is trying to rebuild his career this summer with the Wild Things.

“The fact is, I was getting older and the Pirates have a bunch of young pitchers. They’ve been drafting a lot of big, hard-throwing guys. The organization is pitcher-heavy. The rosters are clogged at the top of the organization and clogged at the bottom.”

So Fuesser, who spent last season with the Pirates’ advanced Class-A team in Bradenton, Fla., was released at the end of spring training in March. After receiving the bad news, one of the first baseball people to call Fuesser was Wild Things manager Bart Zeller.

“He wasn’t the first to call to me, but if he would have called five minutes earlier, then he would have been,” Fuesser said.

Zeller didn’t pressure Fuesser to join the Wild Things.

“I call everybody,” Zeller said. “When you know a kid has been released, you want to give him a couple of days to regain his composure and get through the disappointment of being released. I call them right away and say, ‘I know what you’re going through. If you decide you want to continue your baseball career, then we’re very interested in you. I don’t want to sell you on the Wild Things tonight, but go to our website, look around, see what we’re about and I’ll call you again in a few days.”

Fuesser knew he wasn’t ready to hang up his spikes, so when Zeller called again he informed the manager that he was ready to join the Wild Things.

The 23-year-old Fuesser had a 2-4 record and 3.18 ERA in 37 relief appearances with Bradenton last year. He spent the 2011 and ’12 seasons with Class A West Virginia, pitching in 63 games. If nothing else, Fuesser had proven to be reliable and durable.

The Pirates drafted Fuesser in the 34th round out of Walters State (Tenn.) Community College in 2009. At the time, he used an over-the-top throwing motion, which the Pirates eventually changed to a lower-angle, three-quarters motion.

“The guy I looked up to most in the Pirates system was Tony Watson,” Fuesser said. “I watched hours and hours of Tony Watson video, trying to get his throwing motion down.”

Fuesser still has plenty of friends in the Pirates’ system. He spent two years on the same team with pitchers Brandon Cumpton and Jameson Taillon, and there’s his old fishing buddy, Gerrit Cole.

With the Pirates, Fuesser pitched in 120 career games, starting 33. The Wild Things are hopeful that Fuesser can fill a bullpen role.

“I’m available for whatever role they want me in,” Fuesser said.

The only home exhibition game open to the public this week is the Thursday night game against Lake Erie. The Wild Things and Crushers will play a doubleheader Friday, but those games are closed to the public. … The season opener is May 15 at Florence. It’s the only game in the Frontier League that night. The rest of the league opens May 16.