The Pittsburgh Pirates cut their active Spring Training roster down to 36 players on Thursday morning by optioning right-handed pitchers Clay Holmes and Michael Feliz to Indianapolis.
Holmes won yesterday’s game against the Twins with a scoreless inning of relief work. He put up a 3.60 ERA this spring over ten innings and seven appearances. He held batters to a .162 average, but walked six batters, while picking up nine strikeouts.
Feliz had a 6.00 ERA this spring in 12 innings over eight appearances. He allowed two runs yesterday. He has a 9:3 SO/BB ratio, with batters hitting .271 against him.
Neither player was expected to make the Opening Day roster, but we could see both during the season. The Pirates still need to make nine more cuts before Opening Day, which is a week from today. Three of those cuts will be placing Edgar Santana, Gregory Polanco and Elias Diaz on the injured list. The others will be bench and bullpen decisions.
Our Spring Training Tracker has been updated.