The Pirates announced Monday that they’ve claimed infielder Corban Joseph off waivers from the Giants. Right-hander Chris Archer was transferred from the 10-day IL to the 60-day IL in order to make room on the 40-man roster.
Joseph, 30, is the younger brother of Diamondbacks catcher Caleb Joseph. He returned to the Majors with the 2018 Orioles five years after his 2013 MLB debut and has seen time with both Bay Area teams in 2019. The Giants had recently designated him for assignment. In a combined 57 plate appearances between Oakland and San Francisco in 2019, he managed an unsightly .151/.193/.245 batting line. That said, Joseph utterly laid waste to Pacific Coast League pitching, logging a .371/.421/.585 batting line with 13 home runs, 35 doubles and four triples in 493 plate appearances.
That production is miles ahead of Joseph’s career output in Triple-A, where offensive numbers are up throughout the league. But, it’s still 44 percent better than the league average in 2019 (per wRC+), and Joseph does have a history of performing well at the top minor league level. In parts of six Triple-A seasons, he’s a .294/.362/.457 hitter. He’s been primarily a second baseman but also has experience at both corner outfield and corner infield positions.
Archer was shut down for the season over the weekend after missing the past several weeks due to shoulder discomfort, so the move to the 60-day injured list, at this point, was a pure formality in order to get Joseph onto the roster.
A somewhat surprising pickup in that they have plenty of young middle infielders but they must have seen something in this guy.
Especially good if he has minor league options left.
I would rather give another chance to Jake Elmore another 30 something infielder who flirted with .400 at Indy.
They only gave him 20 abs which is too small a sample.
You are right,he had a heck of a year at Indianapolis.
He also got a hit his first time up with the Pirates.
He then proceeded to go 0 for 19.
Some guys are just AAAA players.
Hmm , another light hitting infielder nobody wants. With Tucker, Newman, Frazier, Kramer (who we don’t use) along with Gonzalez who can’t hit yep sounds about right. Maybe they’ll play Joseph over Kramer, can’t wait…
Another cheap pick up- better than there own draft pick though
He actually debuted with the Yankees. Thanks for the accuracy!
Demand your money back!
I’m not pretending to be a journalist
this is so pirates
Another Giants castoff.
I can usually see the upside in most waiver claims and depth moves, but this is a 30 year old career minor league utility infielder. So no, I don’t see the point here.
Maybe he can pitch?
After about the best five relief pitchers,the Pirates would have been better off making a player/coach of Ray Searage and putting him on the 25 man roster.
Other than the horrific starts by Brault and Williams against the Cubs,the Pirates basically had their AAA squad pitching.
Filler for the 40- Man roster
This is a good point.
The Pirates will be culling the herd soon as they will need to add minor leaguers that they want to keep to the 40 man roster.
NH may want minor league infield backup in case he trades from his surplus.
Joseph may very well be assigned off the 40 man indeed for this reason after they get a look at him in the last two weeks of this season.
Maybe NH got confused and thought he was getting Caleb to add to the Bucs collection of “meh” catchers.
He’s a good sign, and a really good hitter who could put up good numbers if he’s awarded the chance to do so. I know he’s 30, I know he’s yet to have a lot of major league experience, but versatile, if nothing else.
So you’re Corban’s dad, right?
Why don’t all of you negative troll pirate fans go support another team. Like Detroit, only 321 miles away
Joe-It is way too easy to be negative with the Pirates this year and much of it is deserved but some of these posters are just trolls and they do not realize it.
Criticism can be good and some of it is from pure frustration but the ones who consistently post negative or inane things cannot really help themselves.
Fortunately there is rarely anything intelligent said by them and they are short posts so they are basically harmless except that there is so many of them.
The site is worthwhile because it is well run and there are many intelligent and knowledgeable posters also.
I have learned to pick them out and generally ignore the rest.
How many runs did the Cubs score last weekend? You had to love the ball thrown into the dugout on the appeal play! The organization has zero pitching, a lousy manager, refuses to spend and everyone gets to keep their jobs despite years of failure. Yep, I have no idea why commentators complain.
Bk-Unfortunately,what you say is true.
But there is a difference between constructive criticism/ frustrated criticism like yours,and inane ramblings just to be negative,and repetitively so.
Many of them do not even mention the pluses that NH has done along with the coaching staff and even Hurdle.
As bad as the Pirates are,how would you like to be a current fan of the Royals,Orioles,Marlins,Tigers or Mariners? I know that they are all tanking but that is not a guarantee of future success.
I am waiting to see what the Pirates do this offseason.The lack of fans during the Marlins series should tell them something.The paid attendance was 9000 for each of two games,but it looked like 900 were in the Park.
Somehow, once this man gets into a game for the Pirates he will have as many teams he’s played for (Giants, A’s, Orioles, Yankees, and Pirates) as career walks (5).
Anyone notice how well Lyles is pitching for Brewers ? Hum just saying damn things seem crazy with whole staff ? Guess everyone’s coming back?