The Altoona Curve announced four roster moves on Friday. Infielder/outfielder Pablo Reyes has been promoted to Indianapolis, while catcher/outfielder Kevin Krause has been released. To take their place on the active roster, the Curve received 1B/OF Jordan George and outfielder Bralin Jackson from Extended Spring Training.
A move to add Reyes to Indianapolis will still need to be made. He told me that he’s joining the team tomorrow. He was hitting .244/.306/.311 in 12 games for Altoona this year, after putting up a .274/.356/.410 slash line in 110 games for the Curve last year. Reyes is in his last year before minor league free agency, so the Pirates will need to make a decision with him at the end of this season. Seeing what he can do in Triple-A will help them make that decision.
Krause was a ninth round pick in 2014, who put up solid offensive numbers in the lower levels, but his defense was severely lacking behind the plate and in the outfield. He missed a lot of time after being drafted due to Tommy John surgery, which is rare for position players. Krause had just three at-bats this season with Altoona and was seeing limited time last year with Bradenton.
George was with Altoona at the end of last year, hitting .302/.353/.415 in 30 games. He showed some power while with Bradenton earlier in the year, hitting nine homers. He had just two homers total in his first two seasons. The 25-year-old can play first base well and you can put him in left field where his lack of foot speed limits his range, but his real carrying tool is the ability to hit for average and get on base. For him to make the majors, he will need that power he showed in Bradenton to show up in the upper levels.
Jackson was signed as a minor league free agent this off-season after playing independent ball for the local Washington Wild Things last year. The 24-year-old was originally a fifth round pick in 2012 of the Tampa Bay Rays and played in their system until 2016. Last year with Washington, he hit 16 homers. That was after hitting ten homers total in five seasons with the Rays.
As Tim Williams mentioned two days ago, AJ Schugel has been officially promoted to Indianapolis to continue his rehab.
Update: Indianapolis just announced that Brett McKinney has been assigned to Morgantown (paper move) to make room for Pablo Reyes. Dovydas Neverauskas also rejoined Indianapolis on Friday.
