Prior to Friday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected the contract of right-handed pitcher Austin Brice. To make room on the 26-man and 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Jerad Eickhoff was designated for assignment. Eickhoff started on Wednesday and allowed ten earned runs in 4.1 innings.
Brice was a minor league free agent signing this off-season. He has pitched parts of six seasons in the majors, appearing each year from 2016-21. In 140 games (one start), he has a 5.17 ERA in 162 innings, with a 5.15 FIP, a 1.31 WHIP and a 63:155 BB/SO ratio. Last year he pitched for the Boston Red Sox, where he had a 6.59 ERA in 13 games. This year has been spent with Triple-A Indianapolis, where he put up a 3.04 ERA, a 1.16 WHIP and 31 strikeouts in 26.2 innings over 24 appearances.
As a side note, Brice is the only Major League player ever to be born in Hong Kong.
