The Pittsburgh Pirates shook up their bullpen on Friday afternoon, adding right-handers Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez, while optioning righty Clay Holmes and lefty Josh Smoker. Rodriguez needed to be added to the 40-man roster first, but no other moves were necessary because the Pirates had two open roster spots.
Holmes has been up in the majors for 12 days and he’s made just one appearance, so his demotion to Indianapolis has been expected. He was scheduled to be in the Indianapolis rotation this year, which he will likely end up doing once he can increase his pitch count.
Smoker has struggled in five appearances this season, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks, with no strikeouts, in four innings of work.
Crick has allowed one run over four innings with Indianapolis, while Rodriguez has thrown five shutout innings, striking out nine batters. The 28-year-old Rodriguez made his big league debut with the Baltimore Orioles last year, getting five late-season appearances.
Crick, who came over in the Andrew McCutchen trade, made 30 appearances during his big league debut last year. The 25-year-old, had a 3.06 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP and a .191 BAA in 32.1 innings with the Giants.
