The Pittsburgh Pirates have promoted right-handed pitcher Eduardo Vera to Indianapolis. Vera was sent to Altoona to begin the season and was originally slated to start tonight, but he will now make his Triple-A debut and season debut within the next few days.
Indianapolis originally only announced four starters for their Opening Day rotation. JT Brubaker and Mitch Keller started the first two games. Alex McRae goes tonight, while Rookie Davis will start either tomorrow or Monday. He still needs to be added to the active roster.
There was speculation that Steven Brault would take the fifth spot, as he was the player who was expected to be sent down when Jordan Lyles was activated from the injured list. They wouldn’t name him as the fifth starter because he was in the majors at the time. Since then however, Corey Dickerson and Kyle Crick have been placed on the injured list, so Brault has remained with the Pirates.
Vera earned this promotion last year, yet was somewhat surprisingly assigned to Altoona again. The 24-year-old from Yucatan, Mexico pitched great down the stretch for Altoona, including the playoff clincher and one start in the playoffs. He also pitched great in winter ball in Mexico, then had an outstanding Spring Training, capped off by one run over five innings against the Houston Astros in the final spring game. Vera ranks as the 29th best prospect for the Pirates.
UPDATE: Vera will make his start tomorrow. Right-handed pitcher Beau Sulser has been promoted from Bradenton to take Vera’s place on the Altoona roster. Sulser was the tenth round pick in 2017 as a senior out of Dartmouth. He pitched at West Virginia last year, posting a 2.35 ERA in 57.1 innings, with 63 strikeouts, an 0.82 WHIP and a .205 BAA. He did not pitch yet for Bradenton this season.
