The Pittsburgh Pirates have called up infielder/outfielder Miguel Andujar from Indianapolis. To make room on the 40-man roster, pitcher Wil Crowe has been placed on the 60-day Injured List.
Andujar is hitting .284/.364/.500 for the season in 99 plate appearances over 23 games. He has been flipping between first base and the two corner outfield spots.
The Pirates avoided arbitration with Andujar over the winter, signing him for a $1.525M deal, so it was inevitable that he would get called up if he played well at Triple-A this year. They designated him for assignment over the winter as well, but his contract likely kept him around.
The 28-year-old Andujar had a .531 OPS over 27 games with the New York Yankees last year, before joining the Pirates at the end of the year. He hit .250/.275/.389 in nine games with Pittsburgh. He’s a career .272/.302/.447 big league hitter in 268 games.
Crowe is suffering from right shoulder discomfort, which landed him on the 15-day IL retroactive to April 23rd. This is clearly an issue that it going to take some time if they are confident that he’s going to miss two full months already.
Crowe had a 4.66 ERA and a 1.86 WHIP in 9.2 innings over five appearances this year.
In what was a paper move at first, but will lead to him being sent down if the Pirates make it through this doubleheader today without any issues, Drew Maggi was optioned to Altoona, then added as the 27th man for today. Barring any potential issue, he will be returned to Altoona following the games.
The 33-year-old Maggi is 0-for-4 in two games since being called up on Sunday. He struck out as a pinch-hitter in his long awaited debut, then went 0-for-3 in a start at third base on Thursday.
