Pirates' John Holdzkom: Sent to minors with velocity issues

Pittsburgh reassigned Holdzkom to Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday. "John is in an interesting situation where the ball is not coming out of his hand the way it has in the past especially his last couple of outings," GM Neal Huntington told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Holdzkom's average velocity has dropped from 96-98 mph to 89-91 mph in recent seasons, something which throws up a potential injury red-flag. The towering righty helped the Pirates in September of 2014 but struggled for most of 2015. His big-league window may be closing.