This Week's Notes: Moves, Injuries, News

September in sight...

Notes:

• Batting coach Rick Eckstein was relived of his duties; he had succeeded Jeff Branson after the 2018 campaign. The Pirates hitters will be coached by committee until Shelty selects a replacement. The skipper suggested they were looking for a more top-to-bottom, organizational approach for their instruction.
• LHP Dillon Peters went on the 10-day IL with a back strain and LH reliever Sam Howard was activated to take his roster spot.

Bryse Wilson - photo MLB.com/Pirates

• RHP Bryse Wilson (arm fatigue) was recalled from the 10-day IL on Wednesday (he started) and RHP JT Brubaker was put on the IL with a right thumb contusion; he jammed it the night before while batting.
• UT Michael Chavis and OF Anthony Alford were added to the active roster. Chavis started and played second (he's actually spent most of his MLB time at 1B/2B, with just a dozen games in LF). He hit his first homer as a Pirate on Tuesday in his second Bucco start. The corresponding moves were UT Hoy Park, who was optioned to Indy, and 2B Rodolfo Castro, who was optioned to Altoona. Rudy in particular showed some flashes with the big team, but also exhibited a lot of detail work that needed some attention. As for Hoy, Kevin Newman's resurgence, Yoshi Tsutsugo's acquisition and an ill-timed slump ended his dance. However, fate is fickle: the Pirates placed Chavis on the 10-day IL with a right elbow strain and recalled Park from Indy a week later.
• OF Gregory Polanco was waived but never removed from the active roster, as permitted by his outright waiver status. He cleared the 48-hour waiver period early last week without any bites, so the Pirates released him a few days later, ending the tenure of the last Bucco player on the roster from the playoff days. IF/OF Cole Tucker was called up from Indy to take his spot.
• The Pirates had lost 10 straight games to the Diamondbacks at PNC Park until last week's 6-5 victory. They took the second contest, too, but alas, Pittsburgh's 11th try for a sweep this season once again fizzled.
• C Henry Davis, off to a sizzling minor league start after being selected first in the draft, has been placed on the seven-day IL by Hi-A Greensboro with a right oblique strain. The team is still awaiting an MRI, but the oblique could be a season-ending injury.

Henry Davis - photo Tom DiPlace/Baseball America

• RHP Quinn Priester of Hi-A Greensboro was named to the MLB Pipeline Prospect of the Week team. A 2019 first-rounder, Priester struck out 13 while tossing six scoreless innings in last week's start. His record is 6-3 with 87 strikeouts in 85 innings, and he leads the High-A East in ERA (2.86), WHIP (1.15) and oppo average (.216).
• RHP Po-Yu Chen, 19, the Bucs top 2019-20 international signing ($1.25M bonus), was promoted from the Florida Coast Rookie League, which he was dominating (2-0/0.69 in six starts w/28K in 26 IP), to Lo-A Bradenton. Chen was considered among the Top 25 international prospects when he was signed.
• The Reds DFA'ed RHP Michael Feliz, who the Pirates released in May. Feliz had just finished rehab; he had been on the IL since June.
• Josh Bonifay, Cam's son and seven-year member of the Pittsburgh organization as a minor league  player (he topped out at Altoona), was canned as the Phils farm director, a position he's held since 2018.
• The Braves and Yankees met on Monday; both were on nine-game winning streaks, the first time two MLB teams that hot have gone head-to-head since 1901. The Bronx Bombers swept the two game set. The old-timey battle was between the Pirates (10 game streak) and Philly (nine games); the Phils won 4-1, then the Bucs took the next pair.