The Pittsburgh Pirates announced prior to Tuesday’s game that they have sent four players to minor league camp. That group includes infielders Liover Peguero and Malcom Nunez, as well as pitchers Kyle Nicolas and Jared Jones. There are now 62 players in big league camp.
We have re-assigned the following players to Minor League Camp:
INF Malcom Nuñez
INF Liover Peguero
RHP Kyle Nicolas
RHP Jared JonesWe now have 62 players in Major League Camp.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 7, 2023
We are still quite a distance away from any surprise cuts during big league camp. None of these players were competing for a big league job. Nunez, Peguero and Nicolas are all likely headed to Indianapolis. It’s possible the latter two open up back in Altoona, but they will be at Indianapolis at some point this season.
Jones should be opening the season in Altoona, after spending all of the 2022 season in Greensboro. He didn’t have the best results in the hitter-friendly park, but he did lead the system with 142 strikeouts in 122.2 innings last year.
All four of the players cut today are top 20 prospects in the system for most sources.
Peguero is the first cut from the 40-man roster. He was actually optioned to the minors today (non-roster players get reassigned), though the Pirates didn’t announce where yet. His starting point in 2023 can be different than where he’s optioned, so the missing info is not a big deal. The only other previous cut so far this spring was Termarr Johnson, and his early exit was due to a minor injury.
Opening Day is 24 days away, so there are plenty of rosters moves yet to be made this spring.
