The Pirates announced today that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Billy Cook. In a corresponding move, catcher Henry Davis was placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his left hand. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 39. Additionally, the club announced that right-hander Domingo German has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A.
Cook, 25, was a tenth-round pick by the Orioles in the 2021 draft. Cook was a relatively fast riser with the Orioles and made it to Triple-A earlier this year. The outfielder performed admirably with a .279/.372/.485 slash line in 304 trips to the plate with the club’s affiliate in Norfolk. Cook was dealt to the Pirates in a swap on the day of the trade deadline, with Pittsburgh sending minor league right-hander Patrick Reilly to Baltimore in exchange for Cook’s services. Since joining the Pirates organization, Cook has picked up right where he left off at Triple-A Indianapolis with a .276/.389/.486 slash line in 30 games.
That’s clearly enough for the club’s brass to decide the youngster ought to be given a shot in Pittsburgh. Oneil Cruz’s recent move to center field leaves the Pirates with regular starters at each outfield position for the moment, as Cruz is flanked by Bryan Reynolds and Bryan De La Cruz in the outfield corners while Connor Joe and Michael A. Taylor both also mix in on a fairly regular basis. It’s an open question, then, whether Cook will be able to find much playing time on the club’s roster as things stand. That being said, however, Cook also has experience at both first and second base that could allow him to find more playing time. He could mix in alongside Joe and Rowdy Tellez at first base while also offering Nick Gonzales an occasional day off at the keystone.
Making room for Cook on the active roster is Davis, the first overall pick from the 2021 draft. The top prospect made his big league debut last year but has struggled to establish himself in the big leagues to this point in his career with a .191/.283/.307 slash line in 99 games across the past two seasons where he’s split time between the outfield and catcher. Now, he’s headed to the injured list for the second time this year, following up a stint on the concussion IL back in June.
This time, Davis is dealing with hand inflammation, though the severity of the issue is not yet clear. With the end of the regular season just three weeks away and the Pirates all but eliminated from playoff contention, a stint on the shelf that extends beyond the minimum ten days could spell the end of his season even if the issue isn’t especially serious. With Davis out of action, the club figures to rely on a tandem of Joey Bart and Yasmani Grandal behind the plate in the season’s final weeks.
As for German, the right-hander signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal earlier this year and made seven appearances for the club, two of which were starts. Those outings did not go especially well, however, as German was lit up for 19 runs (18 earned) in just 20 2/3 innings of work. In all, he’s posted a 7.84 ERA, 6.13 FIP, and 18% strikeout rate during his time with the big league Pirates this year. Now back in Triple-A, German figures to serve as non-roster depth for the club’s pitching staff for the remainder of the season before likely trying his luck in minor league free agency this winter.
Too many cooks in the kitchen. Time to walk the plank, matey.
Maybe they’re just playing the role of lovable losers like the Cubs.
Which is a nicer way of saying excusing every failure of a large market club by appealing to charm and day drunks.
I certainly agree that it’s a disappointing season for the 72-70 2nd place Cubs. Only 6 games ahead of the Pirates, right matey?
Taylor should have been given his unconditional release and promoted Nick Yorke instead
Taylor sucks at the plate and has twice as many strikeouts as hits and has over 100 ks
Indy in playoff hunt,got to keep some I guess.
So will he be given the Derek Shelton special treatment? You know, call up the young guy who has been hot in the minors, sit him on the bench and play him sparingly till he cools off.
In his major league debut, Cook hit a two run double and Taylor makes the third out
You weren’t reading what I wrote. I was commenting on Shelton’s habit of not giving regular playing time to young players who the Pirates call up. It had nothing to do with what Cook would or could do, but whether Shelton will give him regular at-bats or whether Shelton would platoon him.
You are correct. Nock Gonzales comes up, finally starts heating up, gets 2 hits, then sits.
I wasn’t responding to your comment
You can almost bet that Cook sits next game since 20 something year old players need their rest in Shelton’s eyes
Joe, Tellez, Taylor and Williams should all get less playing time for the rest of the season
In fact, Williams shouldn’t even be on the roster, but Ben loves him for some reason
You were right, panj341, Cook isn’t in tonight’s lineup but worthless Williams is
And neither is IKF who is actually the hottest player on the team isn’t playing either
Just move Cruz to 1st where he belongs.
Cruz isn’t even playing today, Taylor is playing center field
I don’t understand why Shelton keeps playing him
Cruz is too good to play first base. He’s taken well to CF so far. But if it were up to me, he should have stayed at shortstop. He’s shown a lot of dedication and work to learning a new position, but it probably would have been easier if they had him sharpen up his skills at SS instead.
Cook should have been up a month ago, along with Nick Yorke and Mike Burrows. All three should have been the first to get the call, well befre Bill McKinney or Domingo German.
Already has a double and a nice catch. Would have been nice to have that a month ago before it was too late to turn things around.
no one ever accused Ben of having a great baseball mind
Yorke hits like a SS but can’t play SS…or CF. Hes a slower RH Bae.
I would still take Yorke’s .358 average in 31 games with 16 doubles and find a position for him
IKF isn’t exactly a great ss either for the record
at least Bigdaddy can’t say that Cutch should retire as he hit his 19th homer of the season in today’s game
not bad for a 37 year old player
“Billy!” As Sgt Taggart would say!
Not a good Sunday for Domingo. Nobody wanted him apparently.
And I actually heard somebody say the other day that this German threw a Perfect Game in the MLB last season! Almost fell off my barstool and spilled my beer.
he did throw a perfect game last year, but even bad pitchers have a good game on occasion
I liked Reilly for Cook. Ben drafts pitchers, Mike position guys. They should get together more often.
Both have similar ceilings as depth/fringe roster types. Reilly might have a little more potential but also further away from the majors – this really was a win-win for both teams. The Pirates’ OF depth is terrible to put it mildly. Cook seems to slot as a younger, cheaper version of Connor Joe. Both Cook and Yorke have more defensive flexibility than Joe, who I think is gone after this season, TBH.
Davis is the reason why you don’t draft catchers with the 1/1 unless you are 100% sure they will stay at catcher.
It’s becoming apparent that Henry Davis is injury prone already in his young career.
I wonder if Cherington or whoever the GM is this winter will try and trade Davis with Endy coming back and already having Joey Bart on the roster