Last road trip...
Notes:
- C Jake Stallings was placed on the 7-day concussion protocol and C Taylor Davis was called up from Indy to replace him. Jake got banged up during the weekend, taking a backswing on Friday and a foul to the mask Saturday, but is expected back before the end of the season. Davis, 31, is a June minor league acquisition and has played 20 MLB games for the Cubs at catcher and the infield corners. To make room for Davis on the 40-man roster, RHP Bryse Wilson was transferred to the 60-day IL, ending his season.
- The Pirates released 1B John Nogowski (he then reportedly signed a two-year minor league deal with the Giants) and OF Ka'ai Tom (the Giants signed him, too) to make room for the Altoona callups to Indy. Indianapolis has also shuffled IFs Ethan Paul and Luis Hernandez to the development/rookie squads in Florida.
- The Pirates travel taxi squad for Cincy and Philly consists of pitchers Tanner Anderson and Miguel Yajure. Pittsburgh placed LHP Dillon Peters on the 10-day IL on Friday and activated Yajure.
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| Dave Bednar might return - Pirates image |
- Pitchers on the IL: David Bednar, Steven Brault, JT Brubaker, Trevor Cahill, Chase DeJong, Dillon Peters, Jose Soriano (Rule 5), Duane Underwood Jr. and Bryse Wilson. Bednar is hoped to return before the season ends, with JT as a long shot.
- Connor Overton blooped a bases-loaded, two-out, no-mans-land single good for two RBI in his first MLB at bat against the Phils on Thursday. On the other side of the pillow, he had his career-starting streak of 13-2/3 scoreless innings end after a leadoff homer in the third.
- Sam Howard, who began his minor league career as a starter, got his first MLB start Friday in a bullpen game after 95 outings from the pen.
- After Thursday's 12-6 win, the Phillies became the first team to beat the Pirates by six or more runs after trailing by six or more runs in franchise history.
- Pirates catchers went 193 consecutive games without a passed ball over two seasons, an MLB record. Michael Perez let a pair past him in one inning against Philly to end the streak.
- The Bucs had lost 13 straight games in Cincinnati until Tuesday's 6-2 victory. They still have sets against the Reds and Cubs at PNC Park to close out the campaign; so far, they're 4-12 playing Chicago and 4-11 in games v Cincinnati. Pittsburgh finished 5-14 against Milwaukee and 7-12 v St. Louis, so they still have leaps and bounds to improve within the division before talking about being competitive in the future.
- The Pirates-Reds were rained out Wednesday and rescheduled for Monday. So instead of Pittsburgh getting an off day at home, they'll fly from Philly to Cincy to Pittsburgh.
- The Bucs have used 60 players so far this year with 36 different pitchers, both franchise single-season marks.
- The Bradenton Marauders won their Lo-A Southeast league title, sweeping Tampa in the best-of-five series. Greensboro is tied 1-1 in their championship series.
- The Boston Red Sox DFA'ed ex-Pittsburgh P's Geoff Hartlieb and Yacksel Rios.
Hmmm. A two year minor league deal for Nogowski, particularly at this stage of his career, would seem to indicate that the Giants look at him as someone they want to keep on speed dial in case they need someone to fill in at first base. I'm not saying he's a huge loss, but he has definitely shown the ability to put the bat on the ball throughout his professional career (albeit without the power you like to see from a corner man), and first base is not a settled position in Pittsburgh just now. We don't know if Tsutsugo will even be back next year, and if he is, whether can keep this up for a full season. In addition, unless I am reading the signs wrongly, it sure looks to me like the front office doesn't care much for Moran. Granted, we have Mason Martin at Triple A now, but he doesn't have much of a glove and looks like a high strikeout, low average streak power hitter---which didn't work out so well with K-dro Alvarez last time I checked. Again, this isn't going to cost us the World Series or anything, but I think there may have been a better way forward.
ReplyDeleteI am thinking there will be one more year with a lot of roster churn next season, with the younger players starting to lock down various positions in 2023. Looks to me like our contending years will be 2025-2029, something like that.
Gonna be lots of churn, Will. They really have to weed out guys for Rule 5 purposes, especially with all pups. Gonna be an interesting; hopefully a lot of the lower level guys haven't started their clock yet, tho I haven't really checked. As a side note, the Giants have always poached off our system - they even signed Ka'ai Tom. I understand they took Nogo as an insurance policy; their 1B spot could be unsettled next year, too. And I think the FOs decision between Yoshi and Redbeard will be a coin flip, depending how much interest Tsutsugo gets in the marketplace. As for organizational depth, they're likely gonna flip a minor league body or two to first. But we'll see; it's just a few weeks before the roster decisions have to be made. The offseason may have more plotlines than the regular season.
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