Notes: Good Week; Swags Recalled; Injuries, MiLB Happenings; Ex-Bucs

And rolling into June...

Notes:

• The Pirates broke a 17-game! losing streak at Dodger Stadium when they won Monday (it was Shelty's 100th win as skipper), and to prove it was no fluke, they took all three games of the series. They haven't swept LA on the coast since 2000 and haven't swept a series of any kind since 2020. They finished the San Diego/LA trip 4-2. They came home and took 2-of-3 from Arizona over the weekend; when you're hot...
• This road trip has seen a lot of closers discombobulate - David Bednar had a nine-game save streak broken; LA's Craig Kimball lost a 10-game string and SD's Taylor Rogers had a 12-gamer ended.
• OF Cal Mitchell hit his first MLB homer on Sunday v the D-Backs.
• Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com has a piece on overlooked stories in the majors, and includes David Bednar's emergence among them.

Swags Gets The Call - Indy Prospects Weekend Promo

• OF Travis Swaggerty, the injury-bitten 10th overall pick of the 2018 draft by the Bucs, was called up on Sunday, so now 3-of-the-4 rostered OFs are lefties: Bryan Reynolds is a switch-hitter while Jack Suwinski & Cal Mitchell are LHB's. The three OFs on the IL cover all the flavors - Greg Allen is a switch-hitter, Ben Gamel a lefty and Jake Marisnick a righty. Utilityman Rodolfo Castro, who showed some mental and physical holes in his game, was optioned to Indy.
• It's official - the Pirates bought INF Yu Chang's contract from the Cleveland Guardians. An active opening was made by optioning Hoy Park back to Indy after his cup of coffee. To make room for Chang on the 40-man roster, INF Cole Tucker, the 24th overall pick in 2014, was DFA'ed and later claimed by Arizona. He's returning home to his native Phoenix, the best possible change-of-scenery destination. Chang became the 45th player to appear for Pittsburgh this season.
• 1B Josh VanMeter went on the 10-day IL on Friday with a broken finger; he was replaced by DH Daniel Vogelbach, who just returned from his trip to the IL.
• RHP Mike Burrows of Altoona was named the Eastern league Pitcher of the Week after spinning seven shutout innings. He's 3-0/1.90 so far this season.
• OF Matt Gorski of Greensboro (since promoted to Altoona) was named the Sally League Player of the Month. He finished the month with a .306/.388/.824 slash and 12 homers.

Nick Gonzales - 2021 Bowman Prospect

• Curve 2B Nick Gonzales was placed on the 7-day IL with a heel contusion; it's thought to be a minor injury that just requires a little rest.
• Indy prospect RHP Max Kranick, who got several starts last year and a couple of relief appearances with the Bucs this season, had TJ surgery on Saturday.
• Pretty good week for ex-Bucco pitchers San Diego's Big Joe Musgrove had a no-hitter for 7-2/3 IP while the Yankees Jameson Taillon and Gerrit Cole took perfecto's into the eighth and seventh innings, respectively.
• RHP Yefry Ramirez, who made nine Bucco appearances in 2019 (0-0/9.64) has signed a $600 K deal with the Korean League Hanwha Eagles.
• LHP JA Happ, 39, announced his retirement. JA worked for eight teams over his 15-year career. He went 7-2/1.85 for the 2015 Bucs after being acquired as a deadline deal for Adrian Sampson.