After tonight’s game, the Pittsburgh Pirates activated Chris Snyder from the disabled list, and demoted Jason Jaramillo to Indianapolis. I tweeted earlier today that Snyder’s rehab work had ended, which meant the move back to the majors was set to come.
With Snyder back in the mix, Ryan Doumit should move to the bench as the backup. Doumit could steal some time from Snyder, if only to build up some trade value. He hasn’t been off to a bad start this year, although it hasn’t exactly been good. After tonight, he’s hitting for a .241 average, with a .267 on-base percentage. Behind the plate he has caught 25% of base stealers. It’s early in the season, so neither number carries much weight. He has looked better than last year on defense, although that’s not saying much, since his defense was horrible last year.
Snyder hit for a .400/.538/.650 line in 20 at-bats in his rehab work with Bradenton, although those numbers are meaningless since it came in high-A. He caught four games, and was the designated hitter in two more. As for his major league numbers, the Pirates will need him to be a .775 OPS hitter with strong defense, which is pretty much what he’s been throughout his career. He did struggle with the Pirates at the plate last year, with a .566 OPS, after a .778 OPS with Arizona.
Jaramillo should move to the starting role in Indianapolis, pushing Dusty Brown to the bench. If the Pirates ever trade Doumit, Jaramillo would likely serve as the backup in the majors again.
The 25-man roster and the 40-man roster pages have been updated with these moves.
