CESILIO PIMENTEL PICKED UP BY D-BACKS, SALTDOGS SIGN FORMER K-STATE WILDCAT

LINCOLN – The Lincoln Saltdogs and the American Association jointly announced today that the Arizona Diamondbacks purchased the contract of left-handed pitcher Cesilio Pimentel.  In response, the Saltdogs signed right handed pitcher Alex Bee.

Pimentel is the 51^st Saltdogs player sold to an MLB organization and the 28^th since 2011.  He is the second player to be picked up by an affiliated team this season, following RHP Brian McAfee who was signed on Monday, July 31^st.

Pimentel was acquired by the Saltdogs in a trade with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks on July 3^rd.  The southpaw was 6-3 with a 3.57 ERA between the two clubs.  He was 1-2 with a 3.81 ERA for the Saltdogs.  Pimentel made seven appearances out of the bullpen and four starts, including Thursday night, for the Saltdogs.  He did not allow a run in his first 12.1 innings for Lincoln.  He was the American Association Pitcher of the Week for the first week of the 2017 season after throwing eight shutout innings for the Redhawks.  He struck out 31 batters over 30.2 innings for the Saltdogs.

The native of the Dominican Republic spent six seasons in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ organization before coming to the American Association.  He was 14-15 with a 2.96 ERA while reaching as high as High-A Bradenton.  He was picked by the Atlanta Braves in the Rule 5 Draft this past winter.

Pimentel will report to Missoula, the D-Backs affiliate in the Pioneer League.

Bee comes to the Saltdogs after spending a brief period with the Old Orchard Beach Surge of the independent Empire League.  Before that, he was playing for Top Speed Baseball, a summer collegiate team in the Golden State Collegiate Baseball League.  He played on the same team as Saltdogs infielder Nathaniel Maggio.  Bee was 0-0 with a 0.96 ERA over seven outing for Top Speed.  He struck out 14 batters while not issuing a walk over 9.1 innings.

In addition to pitching, Bee also has experience as a catcher.  He played in 61 games over three years for Kansas State in college.  He hit .219 with 23 RBIs over his NCAA career that ended in 2015.  He hit .351 in 44 games for Top Speed this summer.

Derek Gordon takes the mound on Friday for the Saltdogs.  First pitch is at 6:45 PM with coverage beginning at 6:15 PM on ESPN 1480 and saltdogs.com.

Tickets are on sale and can be purchased by calling (402) 474-2255 or visiting Saltdogs.com.  For the latest information on the Saltdogs follow the team on Facebook and Twitter/Instagram @saltdogsball.