The Pirates announced this afternoon they’re expected to select left-hander Cam Alldred onto the major league roster. If that happens, they’ll transfer catcher Roberto Pérez from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Righty Beau Sulser was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to clear active roster space.
The Bucs selected Alldred in the 24th round of the 2018 draft out of the University of Cincinnati. The Ohio native had worked as a starter for the Bearcats but converted to relief immediately after entering the professional ranks. He signed for a modest $100K and has never appeared on an organizational prospects ranking at either Baseball America or FanGraphs, but Alldred has generally posted a strong minor league resume. He owns a 2.75 ERA in 173 2/3 career pro innings.
The 25-year-old has gotten off to a nice start with Indianapolis this year. He’s worked 17 2/3 frames across eight appearances, posting a 1.53 ERA. Allred’s 22.7% strikeout rate is a hair lower than average, but he’s induced ground-balls at an excellent 60.9% clip and only walked 4.5% of opponents. That’ll earn him his first shot in a big league bullpen.
Pérez’s transfer to the 60-day IL is a disappointing but unsurprising development. The 33-year-old, signed to a one-year deal over the offseason, suffered a left hamstring strain last week, and the Bucs quickly determined it to be a severe issue. He’ll be out of action for at least 60 days from the date of his original IL placement, May 7. That’ll keep him out of commission until the second week of July at the earliest, and it seems plausible he may not return until after the All-Star Break. Pittsburgh figures to rely on a catching tandem of Andrew Knapp and Michael Pérez for the foreseeable future.
Cam also has some position player versatility if needed or doing some creative subs.
Interesting. He can’t be any worse than Mitch Keller or Wilson.
Wilson pitched well as a reliever in two stints I believe.So what do the Pirates do?That’s right,start him again!
Mitch Keller is Tyler Glasnow,part two.
Need to check the waiver wire for catchers, Knapp appears overmatched at the plate.
Batting even worse than last year when he finished last among catchers. No bounce back to 2020 season. Lets cut our losses.
should’ve claimed Allen
The problem is there aren’t many decent second catchers left out there.
The Pirates May have to keep Knapp if he is catching well since he has gotten to know some of the pitchers,
Backup catcher is a very important position as catchers quite often cannot last a whole season.It is a shame because Pérez was playing well.I saw him running a few times on replays and he was hustling very well and did not seem to be all that slow for a big guy.That May have caught up to him.