The Pirates dropped the opening game of a three game series against the Giants last night, losing 2-0.
More notable, the Pirates called up Cam Vieaux to replace Canaan Smith-Njigba, and called up Liover Peguero to replace Tucupita Marcano.
Smith-Njigba went on the 60-day disabled list with a broken wrist. Marcano went on the COVID IL.
The addition of Peguero is almost comical at this point with the Oneil Cruz situation. You could make the argument that Peguero is only up temporarily, and due to Altoona’s proximity to the majors, because of COVID. We saw Jack Suwinski and Marcano get the same call earlier this year. Suwinski remained up for good, while Marcano quickly went back down, then eventually returned.
My guess is Peguero doesn’t stay up in the majors for long. Long-term, the Pirates are down a position player. That’s an outfielder, and the Pirates do have options beyond Smith-Njigba for that position. They could eventually bring up Cruz to replace CSN. However, with the Pirates calling up literally everyone except Cruz, does anyone think that callup is likely?
At this point, Cruz is the only healthy player on the 40-man roster who hasn’t been called up to the majors this year, even as a brief replacement.
The Pirates take on the Giants today at 4:05 PM EST. We will post lineups when they are available.
LINEUPS:
Pirates
Peggy will make his Major League debut!#LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/wsdSm3YQvr
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 18, 2022
Giants
June 18 – Giants at Pirates lineup
Austin Slater CF
Wilmer Flores 1B
Darin Ruf RF
Evan Longoria 3B
Luis González LF
Thairo Estrada 2B
Austin Wynns DH
Brandon Crawford SS
Curt Casali C
Alex Wood LHP— KXSF Sports (@KXSFsports) June 18, 2022
