The Pittsburgh Pirates trimmed their Spring Training roster after Sunday’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, reassigning pitchers Chase De Jong and Eric Hanhold to minor league camp. The regular season begins on Thursday, so the final roster cuts will be coming up in the next few days, as they get down to a 28-man roster before Opening Day.
Hanhold appeared in just one game this spring, allowing a run on three hits and a walk in his only inning of work. The Pirates picked him up on waivers in November of 2021, but he was designated for assignment back on March 17th and sent outright to Indianapolis. He had a 6.97 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP in 10.1 innings/ten appearances with the Baltimore Orioles last year.
De Jong made three appearances this spring and allowed one run on three hits and two walks in three innings. He pitched for the Pirates last year, became a free agent, then re-signed with the team last month. He had a 5.57 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP in 43.2 innings over nine starts with the Pirates last year.
The Pirates also had Greg Allen and Yoshi Tsutsugo leave early from Sunday’s game. Allen, who left with a hamstring issues, seems to be the only potential problem of the two, as Tsutsugo said that he wouldn’t have left if it was a regular season game.
On the minor league side, Ethan Paul was released today. He was a 26th round pick of the Pirates in 2018, who went back to college and then got picked by the Pirates in the ninth round in 2019. He spent most of last year as a backup for Indianapolis, despite the fact that he only played short-season ball prior to 2021. Including eight games with Altoona, the 25-year-old infielder hit .207/.324/.253 in 57 games. He put up a .538 OPS in 14 games of winter ball this off-season in Puerto Rico.
