Pirates Prospects has learned that the Pittsburgh Pirates have optioned Nick Kingham to Indianapolis on Monday. The move is not surprising with the team not needing a fifth starter until May 19th due to off-days today, Thursday and next Monday. Expect a move to fill the 25-man roster tomorrow due to the off-day today, with Jose Osuna being a likely addition with the Pirates moving to an American League park for the next two days.
Kingham made two starts with the Pirates, throwing seven shutout innings on one hit in his debut, before allowing four runs over 5.1 innings on Friday. Being sent down will allow him to make two more starts and still be in line to start on the 19th if the Pirates decide to recall him that day. It appears that Joe Musgrove isn’t a possibility for May 19th due to his schedule to get him fully stretched out, so Kingham could be back soon.
Also on Monday, the Pittsburgh Pirates released pitcher Sam Street, who was with Altoona earlier this season for three appearances, but has been off of the roster recently due to a surplus of pitchers with the Curve. Street was a 16th round draft pick in 2014, who spent the past two seasons with Bradenton. He put up solid numbers, but as a soft-tossing right-handed pitcher who relied on deception, he had a tough climb to the majors.
UPDATE 3:41 PM: Pirates announce the Kingham option, along with mentioning that Jose Osuna is expected to be recalled tomorrow. As mentioned above and also earlier today in The 21 article, the move with Osuna was expected. He is hitting .359/.409/.628 through 23 games with Indianapolis and also homered in his only game with the Pirates earlier this year.
ROSTER MOVE: The Pirates have optioned RHP Nick Kingham to Triple-A Indianapolis and INF/OF José Osuna is expected to be recalled tomorrow in time for the game against the White Sox in Chicago.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 7, 2018
