The Pittsburgh Pirates made a handful of moves today, mostly involving Indianapolis and Bradenton.
*Jorge Rondon has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Indianapolis. He pitched twice for the Pirates, allowing seven runs over 3.2 innings.
*The Jose Osuna promotion was posted about last night was made official. To make room for him on the roster, Jhondaniel Medina was sent down to Altoona. Medina has a 2.93 ERA between Altoona and Indianapolis this season, but he’s also issued 27 walks in 40 innings. This is the third time he was with Indianapolis this season, though that has amounted to only six appearances for them.
*Catcher Ed Easley has been released. Tomas Morales has taken his place in Indianapolis. Easley was in the major last year, but he did not have the look of a Major League player this season. He hit just .174/.260/.209 and had a lot of trouble on defense. Morales joined Indianapolis briefly while Jacob Stallings was in the majors. He is 24 years old and a strong defensive catcher, but Triple-A is quite the leap for him. He spent 2014-15 in Bristol as a part-time starter.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Pirates pick up a more experienced backup for Stallings, unless they just plan to ride Morales out until Elias Diaz eventually returns. No update on his timetable, but he has been throwing, catching a simulated game and taking batting practice.
*Jose Regalado was placed on the disabled list. Tanner Anderson was promoted from West Virginia. Regalado was removed from his start yesterday after just two shutout innings, so that appeared to be a sign that something happened. No word on his injury yet. Anderson was having a great season in long relief for West Virginia until his last outing, when he allowed seven runs in one inning of work. That pushed his ERA from 2.14 up to 3.42 in 47.1 innings.
*Jeff Roy has also been released. The 18th round pick from 2013 has been with Bradenton this season. In 262 games during his four seasons, he had a .251/.334/.292 slash line, with 74 stolen bases.
*Raul Hernandez took the place of Morales as the backup catcher for Bradenton. Hernandez has been the starting catcher in the GCL and he came over from the DSL this spring.
*Erik Lunde was sent to the GCL on rehab. Once he is off the disabled list in a few days, he will take the place of Hernandez on the Bradenton roster, assuming Morales stays in Indianapolis.
*Nick King, who they signed yesterday, was assigned to Morgantown. Daniel Cucjen was also signed yesterday, and as well mentioned, he was assigned to Bristol.
*Max Kranick, the 11th round draft pick, was assigned to the GCL Pirates.
