The Pittsburgh Pirates added five players today, with a little bit of a surprise in the group. They added catcher Jacob Stallings, 1B/OF Jose Osuna, relief pitchers Nick Burdi and Dovydas Neverauskas, and IF/OF Pablo Reyes, who was added to the 40-man roster.
Stallings and Burdi were the most obvious recalls. Teams always add a third catcher when the rosters expand and Burdi is a Rule 5 player who needs to start accumulating days in the majors. Burdi was activated from the 60-day disabled list.
Osuna was one of the top choices along with with Max Moroff or Jordan Luplow. Any of the three would have worked for an extra bat. The same could be said about Neverauskas, who is just an added arm for the bullpen.
The only surprise is a small one. I mentioned just a week ago that the Pirates should take a look at Reyes this September, but I didn’t expect him up until the Indianapolis season was over. They are still competing for a playoff spot right now, which is why there are only five players being called up today and not more. If they fail to make the playoffs, then you’ll see more players added on Tuesday and that group could be bigger than this one. Reyes was hitting .289/.341/.435 in 110 games with Indianapolis. He can play three infield spots and in the outfield, but his best defense would be at second base.
As an added note, Sean Rodriguez has been released. He was designated for assignment earlier this week.
