Brett

Lorin

The Snakes traded 20-year-old right-hander Robert Rowland to the Pirates to retain Lorin, who was a Rule 5 Draft selection in December. The 25-year-old is doubtful to reach the major leagues this year.

At 6-foot-7 and 245 pounds, Lorin is a big boy, but he’s not overpowering for a guy of his size. His fastball touches just 90 MPH, but he does have a useful slider and changeup. The problem is that he’ll turn 25 in March and hasn’t made it out of A-ball yet. He held a 2.84 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 99/19 K/BB ratio over 117 1/3 innings at High-A in 2011. The D’Backs will hope he can stick around as a long man out of the pen.

Lorin will turn 27 later this month and the D’Backs decided he wasn’t close to being ready to help out. He holds a 3.72 ERA over six minor league seasons.

Lorin, 22, was 5-4 with a 2.44 ERA and an 87/25 K/BB ratio in 16 starts for Single-A Clinton. For a guy who stands 6-foot-7 he boasts an underwhelming fastball, but youth is on his side and he’s been fairly effective during his short minor league career.

Lorin doesn’t quite have the fastball one might expect from a guy who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs 245 pounds, but he’s come a long way as a pitcher since the beginning of last year. The 2008 fifth-round pick has a 1.50 ERA and a 16/1 K/BB ratio after two starts for Clinton.