Bucco holiday - Kingham sent down, Joey O on the way up & notes

Nick Kingham being sent down (first reported by @JohnDrecker and confirmed by the team later in the day), while not the most popular move, is logical. Because of some off days, the Pirates can keep their rotation on schedule with four guys while Nick can keep up his routine intact at Indy and the FO can kick the decision down the road for awhile. The Pirates could have opted to keep five starters and steal an extra day or two of rest for them but decided to not disrupt; six of one, a half dozen of the other. They also could have sent Mad Max down, as he could use regular at-bats as much as Kingham could use regular innings.

Pittsburgh won't announce who is coming up until tomorrow, though the smart money (for that matter, the dumb money, too) is piled up behind Jose Osuna. Osuna has hit .359 with 12 doubles, three home runs, 18 RBI and made 17 appearances at third base/four in right field while playing with Indy. It may be hard for Joey O to catch much time other than pinch-hitting or maybe giving Gregory/J-Bell a blow, but he does have an opp to get some quick swings in as a DH in Chicago.

Nick we hardly knew ya' (photo: Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

This way, Clint still has an eight-man pen to call on plus a fifth bat on the bench, at least for a couple of turns through the rotation. But we don't expect this to alter the eight arms in the pen model when the vacation days end. Clint is comfortable with an extra reliever to call on, and he likes feeding his bench vets, Freeser and S-Rod, semi-regular at-bats, so it works for him. And the player churn may continue when the schedule tightens up; Joe Musgrove could be ready by the time the Bucs need a fifth starter on the 19th (or Brault/Kingham could take a spin), and J-Hay may be a couple of weeks behind him. We may be six weeks into the season, but the roster has still got some moving pieces.

Notes:

• The CWS and Buccos haven't met since 2015. Pittsburgh is 6-2 against the AL so far, having faced Motown twice and splitting a two-gamer with the Twins.
• Pittsburgh is 10-3 v the NL Central; they've met each rival once and taken the series against Cincy, Chicago and Milwaukee while sweeping the Cards.
• The Bucs have six shutouts this year, tops in the majors. Right behind them are the Cubs and Dodgers with five.
• After a couple of delaying bouts with rain, Joe Musgrove will finally get his rehab start at Altoona tonight.
• Old Bucco watch: Pedro is hitting .205 and struck out 24 times in 90 PAs as a DH for Baltimore, but has seven home runs/14 RBI and an .811 OPS.
• You have to be a deep-diving Pirates fan to remember RHP Shane Carle, but the 26-year-old is in the show and has a line of 2-1/0.92 ERA/1.099 WHIP in 15 games with the Bravos. He was a 2013 Bucco draft pick, traded to the Rox in the winter of 2014 for Rob Scahill. The Rox waived him during this past off season and he was reclaimed by Pittsburgh, then traded to Atlanta for considerations two weeks later.