The Pirates announced a few transactions before tonight’s matchup with the Padres. Pittsburgh selected the contract of infielder Alika Williams to make his MLB debut, as reported this morning. Infielder Tucupita Marcano is going directly on the 60-day injured list with ligament damage in his right knee, clearing both active and 40-man roster space. Additionally, reliever Wil Crowe was sent outright to Triple-A Indianapolis after clearing waivers.
Crowe had been designated for assignment last week. The righty had been on the shelf since April due to discomfort in his throwing shoulder. Rather than bring him back to the 40-man roster once he was healthy, the Bucs designated him for assignment. He’s gone unclaimed and will stick in the organization as a non-roster player, since he doesn’t have the service time to test free agency.
A former second-round pick who was acquired from the Nationals in the Josh Bell trade, Crowe has spent two and a half seasons in Pittsburgh. He struggled as a starter in 2021 but found a bit more success after a bullpen conversion last year. Through 76 innings, he posted a 4.38 ERA while inducing grounders on nearly half the batted balls he allowed.
Marcano, meanwhile, seems in danger of missing the rest of the season. He’ll be out until at least the middle of September. The left-handed hitter posted a .233/.276/.356 line over a career-high 220 plate appearances prior to the injury, which occurred when he awkwardly tried to avoid a tag while running the bases in last night’s win over San Diego.
Good depth.
Marcano was batting.233 over 250 plate appearances
I guess the team’s “ hitting “ coach guru couldn’t help him turn his season around
He’s the best hitting coach in the league. These hitters are really knocking the cover off the ball. If it wasn’t for Haines, we wouldn’t be so feared.
But all joking aside, I hope these get someone else to manage the hitting. These guys look lost up there. It’s all great and all for Jack to hit 24 HRs but the strikeouts hurt more than anything. That upward swing Haines teaches these kids, hasn’t put them on the map. I really hope they let him go over the offseason. There has to be someone more capable of getting these hitters full potential out. Glass is half empty right now
What’s really cool is Wil Crowe has a hall of famer in the family. He’s deceased great uncle was Red Ruffing.
^^^ his not he’s^^^
I Lika the Williams call-up
Too bad for Marcano. From little league all the way up, what are we taught about sliding? Slide……, there’s no advantage to going in standing up unless you’re heading to the next unoccupied base.
It’s time for BC to consider firing the coach who teaches base running skills. First it was Cruz and now Marcano
Similar to the failures of the offense, Haines also needs to go
This is year 4 of the latest rebuild and they aren’t any better this year than last season
It was originally predicted they’d win 70 games but it’s clear that they just might lose 100 for the third straight season and someone must be held accountable
Yes, injuries have contributed to these losses but every team has injuries and they overcome them one way or another
@theman3 Haines really needs to be let go. They need someone more accomplished as a hitting coach and/or played in the majors at some point. Jason Kendall keeps coming to mind as a hitting instructor and coach. If Kendall can have an assistant, I’d see if Moses Alou would be interested in being an assistant hitting instructor. I think the combo of Alou and Kendall would help the young core
Meanwhile belongs at the start of the sentence, you can’t just throw it in the middle and put commas around it.