The Winnipeg Goldeyes have recently strengthened their starting rotation by bringing on board a former fourth-round selection from the Major League Baseball’s Amateur Draft. This new addition to the team is none other than the right-handed starting pitcher, Aaron Shortridge.

The team officially announced Shortridge’s signing on a recent Wednesday. The talented pitcher was originally picked by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2018 Major League Baseball June Amateur Draft, following his impressive run at the University of California, Berkeley.

Despite being 27 years old, Shortridge has had a notable career, spending five seasons with the Pirates organization. However, he never got the opportunity to play at the major league level. Most of his previous season was spent in AAA with the International League’s Indianapolis Indians. Here, he put on a strong performance, finishing with a 3-4 win-loss record and a 5.18 earned run average in 12 appearances.

Shortridge, a native of California, has an overall career record of 28-33 across five professional seasons. The Goldeyes’ manager, Logan Watkins, expressed his excitement for the new addition, stating in a press release, “This is a significant acquisition for us. Throughout his career, Aaron has demonstrated that he’s an extremely successful starting pitcher. He’s competed at higher affiliated levels and has always been effective.”

Watkins further added, “He will only serve to enhance what is already a robust starting rotation.” Shortridge is the fourth starting pitcher currently under contract with the Goldeyes. However, the team’s all-star, Joey Matulovich, is yet to re-sign.

In other team news, former Goldeyes all-star first baseman, Kyle Martin, has signed with the rival Cleburne Railroaders after spending the majority of the last three seasons in the Mexican League. During his time with the Goldeyes, Martin set a single-season league record for the American Association for most runs batted and also broke the team record for home runs in a season.

The Goldeyes are gearing up for their training camp, which is less than three months away. Players are set to report on April 26.

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