The Pittsburgh Pirates made some roster moves ahead of Tuesday’s game. We heard about these moves earlier, but they are all now official. Right-handed pitcher Luis Ortiz has been added from the taxi squad, which he joined yesterday. Outfielder Josh Palacios has been added from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Ortiz was named as the starter for tonight’s game against the Colorado Rockies. He’s taking the place of right-handed pitcher Vince Velasquez in the starting rotation.
It’s unknown at this time if Ortiz will stick around after this game. Velasquez is supposed to be out for a short time according to General Manager Ben Cherington over the weekend. The Pirates have off on Thursday this week, followed by a day off on Monday next week, as well as an off-day next Thursday. So they won’t need a fifth starter again for quite some time.
That doesn’t mean that they won’t keep Ortiz and give the rotation a longer rest between starts, but it’s possible for them to add to the to bullpen until Velasquez comes back (assuming no setbacks obviously) and not use a fifth starter.
Ortiz has looked good in his last two outings, including a limited pitch start on Friday that allowed him to start today. His first three outings this season included a lot of strikeouts and high pitch counts that limited his innings. His next two starts were both efficient outings, though he combined for just three strikeouts over two games, which never happened previously in back-to-back starts during his career. He combined the ability to miss bats with the efficient pitch count in his last two games for ideal results.
Ortiz overall has a 2.23 ERA in 32.1 innings, with 11 walks, 29 strikeouts and an 0.96 WHIP.
The Pirates sent down right-handed pitcher Cody Bolton to make room for Ortiz. He made three appearances since joining the team for his big league debut, allowing three runs over six innings, on seven hits, three walks and five strikeouts.
Palacios is a bit of a surprise addition. He is doing quite well recently for Indianapolis, but he’s also just over two weeks removed from playing part-time with Altoona to start the season. The Pirates are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle from someone while they are on a hot streak. They need help with an offense that has scored 11 runs in the last eight games.
The 27-year-old Palacios is a .207/.267/.232 hitter over 42 big league games, seeing time with the 2021 Washington National and 2022 Toronto Blue Jays. He is hitting .434/.500/.774 in 13 games with Indianapolis, after putting up a .648 OPS in eight games with Altoona.
To make room on the active roster and the 40-man roster, right-handed pitcher Chase De Jong has been designated for assignment. He has a 10.61 ERA and a 1.93 WHIP in five appearances this year, while also missing some time due to a minor injury, which allowed them to send him on a rehab assignment.
