The Pittsburgh Pirates made eight roster cuts after Tuesday’s game, getting down to 40 players on the active Spring Training roster with nine days left before Opening Day. They optioned pitchers Luis Ortiz and Yohan Ramirez to Indianapolis. They also reassigned six players to minor league camp. That group includes catcher Carter Bins, pitchers Daniel Zamora, Cody Bolton and Carmen Mlodzinski, infielder Andres Alvarez and outfielder Chavez Young.
Ortiz posted a 10.50 ERA this spring. He will be either the first or second depth option for the Pirates if they need a starter early in the season. That depends on whether or not they go with a five or six-man rotation. He will likely have some challenges for the top depth option from Mike Burrows and Quinn Priester as the season goes along, but all three should/could see starting time with the Pirates this year.
Ramirez did solid work for the 2022 Pirates in his 22 appearances last year, but he’s had an awful spring, allowing 11 runs in 5.1 innings. He will be among the top depth options for the bullpen.
All of the players reassigned to minor league camp should be with Indianapolis this year, though there could be some roster decisions that keep some of them back in Altoona to start the season. Bolton looked good this spring until his last outing, which can be said about Mlodzinski as well.
While both were longshots to make the Opening Day roster, Young had a .550 OPS this spring, while Alvarez had a .548 OPS. Bins was also going up against big odds, but he managed to put up a 1.178 OPS in 16 plate appearances spread over 11 games.
