According to Jason Mackey, the Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba and utility fielder Hoy Park. It’s unknown right now who they are replacing on the roster. It’s likely (but not definite) that one of them is joining the team tomorrow when the Pirates can add a 27th player for the doubleheader against the St Louis Cardinals.
Per sources: Pirates are calling up Canaan Smith-Njigba and Hoy Park. For Smith-Njigba, assuming he plays, it’ll mark his MLB debut.
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) June 13, 2022
Smith-Njigba is getting called up for the first time. He came over to the Pirates in the Jameson Taillon deal and played 66 games with Altoona and seven more with Indianapolis last year. He combined to hit .258/.381/.379 with 11 doubles, six homers and 13 steals in 14 attempts. He then played in the Arizona Fall League, where he batted .298/.452/.456 in 18 games. This season has been spent with Indianapolis. The 23-year-old Smith-Njigba is hitting .277/.387/.408 in 52 games.
This will be the third time Park joins the Pirates. He’s hitting .214/.267/.286 with the Pirates in six games, and .250/.400/.339 with Indianapolis in 35 games.
We will update this post when the transaction(s) is/are announced.
UPDATE 4:25 PM: The Pirates called up Smith-Njigba and Park, sending down Travis Swaggerty and Aaron Fletcher.
UPDATE: 7:47 PM: Jason Delay has also joined the Pirates from the taxi squad. Duane Underwood Jr. had to be placed on the COVID-19 list, so Delay was in the right place and the right time to join the team. This is his first time in the majors as well. He was batting .250/.324/.344 in 22 games with Indianapolis, as one of four catchers they had on the roster
