Dan Zangrilli of 93.7 The Fan has a few updates tonight on who could be called up for tomorrow’s double-header. First, Zangrilli says that Brandon Cumpton will be the 26th man.
Pirates will also bring up Brandon Cumpton as 26th man.
— Dan Zangrilli (@DanZangrilli) May 18, 2014
The scheduled starters are Charlie Morton and Gerrit Cole, so Cumpton would probably just serve as an extra arm out of the bullpen. He was originally scheduled to be the starter in tomorrow’s game with Indianapolis.
Zangrilli also says that Nevin Ashley is coming up, and that he could be replacing Tony Sanchez, who is presumed injured.
Sources: Pirates will bring up catcher Nevin Ashley from Indy as catcher Tony Sanchez presumed injured. Injury unknown at this time.
— Dan Zangrilli (@DanZangrilli) May 18, 2014
Could be possible that Ashley is here as a fail safe with the DH. No guarantee he's on active 25 man. But Ashley is not with team in AAA
— Dan Zangrilli (@DanZangrilli) May 18, 2014
The Pirates can bring up Ashley as a precaution without adding him to the roster. If Sanchez was injured, they’d have Ashley in town, and could add him before the game. If Sanchez is fine, then they don’t need to do anything with Ashley.
Ashley isn’t on the 40-man roster, but the Pirates wouldn’t have a problem clearing a spot for him. Brent Morel hasn’t been hitting, and would be an easy choice to be designated for assignment to clear a roster spot.
Russell Martin expects to be back on Wednesday, and will have a one game suspension to serve. So no matter what happens with Sanchez and Ashley, the starting catcher by Friday should once again be Martin. Ashley does have options remaining, so if he is called up, the Pirates could option him back to Triple-A when he’s no longer needed.
