Pirates Notebook: Angel Perdomo and Yerry De Los Santos Join the Bullpen

The Pittsburgh Pirates made a few additions to their bullpen prior to Saturday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Left-handed pitcher Angel Perdomo was selected from Indianapolis, and right-hander Yerry De Los Santos was recalled.

To make room for the new pitchers, the Pirates designed Chris Owings for assignment, and optioned Cody Bolton to Triple-A.

Combined with yesterday’s moves, the Pirates have adjusted their MLB bench and bullpen, while adjusting their depth. Here is how each section looks.

The Bullpen is Full Again

Robert Stephenson was traded to the Rays yesterday. The Pirates optioned Bolton back down to Indianapolis today. Replacing those two are Perdomo and De Los Santos.

Perdomo gives the Pirates a second lefty, pairing him with Rule 5 pick Jose Hernandez. In 20 games with Indianapolis, Perdomo had a 3.18 ERA in 22.2 innings. He had some control problems, with 16 walks, but 35 strikeouts and a .167 average against shows that his stuff could be pretty dominant.

Bolton has had some control issues in his first trip to the majors. De Los Santos has also struggled with control while in the minors this year. The difference is Bolton’s control issues are recent. De Los Santos has been doing better with control lately and will get another shot in the majors. He threw 25.2 innings in the majors last year, with a 4.91 ERA and a 26:11 K/BB ratio.

Infield Shuffle

The Pirates activated Mark Mathias yesterday and designated Owings for assignment today. Mathias is batting .275 with a .370 OBP and hasn’t looked bad in the field. Owings is a defensive option who put up a .320 OPS. That’s an overall upgrade for the bench.

In return for Stephenson, the Pirates added Alika Williams from the Rays. Williams is a shortstop who was drafted in the first round in 2020, grading well with speed, defense, and contact skills. The Pirates could still keep Owings if he clears waivers, but Williams seems like a better long-term option, and maybe a better short-term depth option.

Aaron Shackelford Wins Player of the Month

After batting .278/.416/.653 with seven homers in 72 at-bats, Aaron Shackelford has been named the Indianapolis Indians Player of the Month for the month of May.

The 26-year-old infielder is no stranger to power, hitting 26 homers with an .813 OPS in a breakout campaign in Altoona last year. He spent most of his time last year at first base, but has gotten more time in 2023 at second base. He’s also gotten a few starts at third. Shackelford could be an infield option for the Pirates later this year, probably factoring in on the right side off the bench.

Pirates Release Lower Level Players

The Pirates released six minor league players yesterday. Those players were outfielder Deion Walker, right-handed pitchers Ryan Velasquez, Drew Irvine, Andres Sierra and Juan Santos, and catcher Jhosmmel Zue. John Dreker wrote about each player yesterday.

Today, the Pirates released Jasiah Dixon, according to the MiLB.com transaction pages. Dixon had a career .649 OPS in 384 at-bats with the Pirates, spending all of his time in Bradenton between rookie ball and Single-A. He had a .610 OPS in 125 at-bats in Single-A last year, but struck out around a third of the time. He’s been one of the fastest players in the system since he was drafted in the 23rd round in 2019, with contact issues limiting his speed.

Pirates Notebook is a daily rundown of the news throughout the Pirates system. Check back throughout the day for updates.

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Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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candyfan

Under Bob Nutting ownership, the Pirates seem to like that “dumpster diving” for players, i.e. Owings at SS? Yes, the guy can play shortstop but he’ll never hit his weight?

So let’s just play Marcano there, and Bae played some SS in the Minors, no? If they think Castro can’t cover the ground and sometimes has a suspect arm from SS, play him at 2b, ’cause as with his buddy Cruz, he looks like a winner for the long term.

Players such as Connor Joe, Suwinski, Delay etc. are the reasons for the competitive improvement in the Pirates this year, from a farm system that seems to be on a higher quality level than we’ve seen since the A.J. Burnett years of success.

joebaseball

Out of the Rain Delay, and Hayes hit another over the fence

leefieux

Why is the Pirate game tomorrow starting at 1130?

Once there was a time that that I would’ve driven in for today’s game and then tomorrow’s and then left after for my 4 hour drive home. Good memories….sigh. Always used to plan ahead for my one trip home to catch as many games as possible.

VTBucFan

It is on the Peacock Network. Every Sunday they have an 11:30 AM game that is unfortunately not part of the MLB Extra Innings package so no TV tomorrow unless you subscribe to the Peacock Network. It’s like on Friday Apple TV has an exclusive game, last night Brewers-Reds.

chuck_conner

I’m not sure, but I think they started early on Sundays when there was a double header. At the time there was a think called “the blue law.” You couldn’t start an inning after 3pm. I’m old enough to remember Sunday double headers, but could be wrong on the times.

not avail

I initially thought that read that they had released Andres Silvera, and I’m like, “What???!”

Then I realized it was Andres Siera, who hasn’t pitched in more than a year.

Wilbur Miller

Very surprised they’re calling Yerry up. He’s been horrible at Indy. I thought he’d likely come off the roster at some point.

melkel

They might be giving him a prove it trial at the mlb level to see how he does. He seems to be one of the low guys on the 40 but has shown promise in the past.

leefieux

Perdomo I might be useful, but .De los Santos appears to be nothing more than a blowout reliever.

jon6er

Sounds like you forgot these moves by the Pirates often defy logic, lol.

Wilbur Miller

Well, they (belatedly) dfa’d Owings, so there’s that.

SBRO

Have to say, they’re actually treating the roster this year a lot more like it actually matters. We’ve seen them cut bait on veterany guys like Owings, Underwood, deJong and Andujar, outrighted Vilade and traded Stephenson and Heineman for scrap metal. In years past these dudes would have clogged the roster well into the summer. Shoot, they wouldn’t even have been the worst guys on the roster.

It’s progress!

Wilbur Miller

What’s curious is how their marginal pickups this year have produced some (so far) useful guys — Joe, Dauri, R5 guy, Palacios. Some bums, too, but that’s how it works.
From 2020-22 it was one disaster after another. Why all of a sudden can they make useful moves? It strongly implies that, the first three years, they just didn’t give a s***.

emjayinTN

Make that R5 Guys plural in that Hernandez was the 3rd pick in the ’22 R5 by the Pirates from LAD, and Yohan Ramirez was the 5th Pick in the ’19 R5 by Seattle from the Astro’s.

Dauri Moreta has been much more than expected. Both he and Newman have +0.4 fWAR at this point in the season, and Alika Williams will help, although Jared Triolo is warming up with the bat and carrying a .963 Fielding % at SS at AAA. Expect him up in a Pirate uni in a few weeks. A RH bat who hit much better against RH pitchers at AA last year.

Wilbur Miller

Forgot Yohan. He’s been way better than I expected.

emjayinTN

5 kids from the DR in the current BP with HMan and Bednar the 8th/9th inning guys, and the possibility of Ortiz and Contreras in the BP depending upon the situations. The Pirates lost 9 pitchers in the 2022 Rule 5? Glad Sabol, Oliva, and the 9 pitchers got a chance to go somewhere they were needed.

Wilbur Miller

Just thinking about it, this is probably a vote of confidence in Marcano. Mathias can hit some but can’t play short. Of course, Owings can’t, either, but the Pirates seem to be the one team in MLB that doesn’t realize that. Anyway, they’re probably more comfortable now because Marcano can cover a lot of the need at short. And it upgrades the bench because, well, Mathias can hit some.

Cocktailsfor2

I’ve been saying all along that Marcano just needed a steady shot…

PirateRican21

I wrote this yesterday, Castro and Marcano at SS, Bae and Mathias at 2b. Btw Mathias played the outfield in AAA this year, so no need to play Suwinski nor Palacios against lefties.

not avail

A 116 wRC+ alongside decent defensive play at a high-value position will create confidence.

Wilbur Miller

He forced his way in the door. Gotta give him credit.

not avail

I post more on BucsDugout than I do here so I don’t think I’ve ever hit P2 with my More Athletic Adam Frazier moniker for Marcano.

I’ve been long on Marcano for a while. Because really, who wouldn’t want a more athletic version of a dude who’s going to land somewhere between 14 and 18 career fWAR?

Last edited 3 months ago by not avail
leefieux

His hitting has been a VERY pleasant surprise.

AdministrativeSky236

Perdomos results this year are interesting to me, but as much as i pushed for YDLS last year, hes not showing good results at indy so far

jon6er

We are most likely going to see at least one or both of them this weekend unless the Pirates can get 6 or 7 innings from the starters.

Wilbur Miller

Even with the scary BB rate, Perdomo’s overall #s look pretty good. But whatever happens to him seems to happen all at once.

Thanks to injuries, the pitching depth is looking . . . shallow.

joebaseball

If only there was a 1-1 option at the top of the draft. Oh wait…..

chuck_conner

Will the,bucco’s screw,this up too. It’s nice to get more upside prospects in later rounds, but its,time for them to take the best player they can. I don’t care if it’s close, take the #1 . I think in a couple of years the Pirates are going to have a lineup other pitchers won’t want to see. Now, if we could get someone that has game management. Just sayin!

EightMenOut

Pirates have 3 lefties in the bullpen now (Perdomo, Hernandez and Zastryzny), Cardinals have 2 in their bullpen, while Chicago, Reds, and Brewers have 1 each. Left handed relievers are not easy to roster.

leefieux

Remember when we brought in like six dozen to camp, lol. Can’t believe that Dreker and I weren’t invited.😜😜

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