The Pirates have announced a number of roster moves, which were first reported by Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. The club has selected the contract of right-hander Hunter Stratton, and in a corresponding move designated outfielder Joshua Palacios for assignment. The club has also optioned catcher Henry Davis, infielder Nick Yorke, and outfielder Billy Cook to Triple-A.
Stratton, 28, was non-tendered by the Pirates back in November but signed a minor league deal with the club not long afterwards. Now, he’s set to suit up for his third season in Pittsburgh after posting solid numbers with the club out of the bullpen last year. In 49 2/3 innings of work during his MLB career, Stratton has posted a 3.26 ERA with a 3.61 FIP, striking out 21% of his opponents while walking just 4.9%. That impressive command seems to have been enough to earn the right-hander a spot in the big league bullpen to open the 2025 season, though the righty does have options remaining so he could at least theoretically be squeezed off the roster and sent to Triple-A in favor of another arm.
Making room for Stratton on the 40-man is Palacios, a fourth-round pick by the Blue Jays back in 2016. He made his debut with Toronto in 2021 but made it into just 13 games with the club before being claimed off waivers by the Nationals the following year. He appeared in 29 games for D.C. but was eventually outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster only to be plucked out of the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft by the Pirates later that year. Making his Pirates debut in 2023, Palacios got his first significant big league opportunity but was unable to do much with it, hitting a lackluster .239/.279/.413 in 91 games for the Pirates where he split time between all three outfield spots.
Palacios ended up appearing in just 23 games for Pittsburgh last year, and though they carried him on their 40-man roster throughout the offseason he appears to have been squeezed off the club’s roster by Jack Suwinski. The Pirates will now have one week to either trade Palacios or place him on waivers, where he can be claimed by any club. As a career .230/.286/.364 (75 wRC+) hitter with no options remaining, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Palacios pass through waivers successfully. If he does so, he’ll have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment and test free agency.
As for the options, Davis is the most notable name. Things haven’t gone well for the 25-year-old since he was selected first overall in the 2021 draft, as to this point in his big league career he’s hit just .191/.283/.307 in 99 big league games while struggling defensively both in the outfield and behind the plate. For the time being the Pirates appear committed to Davis’s development as a catcher, and he’ll now continue to wait for an opportunity at Triple-A as the club relies on a tandem of Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez at the dish to open the 2025 campaign.
Looking beyond Davis, Nick Yorke has remained in camp as a possible alternative to Nick Gonzales at second base, though Gonzales has always appeared to be the favorite for the job after the former seventh-overall pick’s solid .270/.311/.398 showing in 94 games for the Pirates last year. Cook, meanwhile was in the competition to fill in for Spencer Horwitz at first base while Horwitz rehabs wrist surgery he underwent last month, though that job now appears likely to go to non-roster invitee DJ Stewart after the 31-year-old slashed a solid .270/.357/.486 in 17 games this spring.
In two years it will be Davis getting the boot from the 40-man
Way too early to bury Davis, guy has had like 300 AB, it has not been smooth sailing but the big leagues is different takes some guys awhile to figure it out.
Agreed. Davis has succeeded at every level and he can still succeed at the MLB level.
it’s just so much tougher when you can’t play defense. league avg bat certainly won’t cut it
Davis defense actually improved in 2024. Hitting a curve ball is his issue. He’s always out in front.
Stratton will probably start the year on the IL, but sad to see Palacios go. He’s seems like an awesome teammate and had some extremely clutch hits in 2023, but I get it. He has some solid underlying numbers, .318 xwOBA, 91.4 MPH exit velo, 9.4% barrel rate with the Pirates the last two seasons, maybe he can figure it out somewhere else if another team claims him, but I hope he passes throug waivers and gets sent to Triple-A. I think Cook should have opened the year in the major leagues, would have been a solid platoon for Horwitz when he is back. He also looked outstanding in the field late last season and made some outstanding plays in the outfield and at first base. The defensive numbers back it up too.
I stand corrected, Stratton pitched today, but it was his first appearance of spring training. Might still get sent to Triple-A for the first few weeks of the season until he’s fully stretched out.
I’d say extended spring training
Davis was a money saver. How’s that working out?
Huh? If anything they rushed him up after a month at AAA so…how was that a money saver?
Because the Pirates went underslot so they could sign some of their high school picks. It ended up getting them some decent prospects though. Bubba Chandler is great, and Anthony Solometo looks healthy after a down 2024.
The slot money is a nice side effect of drafting at a position of need. Davis was going in the first 10 if not top 3. It’s not like it’s a huge factor mor of a convenient situation
Not too bad as it allowed for Bubba Chandler.
Too be fair they mainly went with Davis for Lonnie White who signed well over slot they could’ve very easily got Marcelo Mayer/Jordan Lawlar and afforded Bubba Chandler but obviously hindsight is 20/20 and Davis was supposed to be a high floor player
There really wasn’t a consensus best prospect at the time of the draft either. It changed hands multiple times from Kumar Rocker, Jack Leiter, Jordan Lawlar, Henry Davis, and Marcelo Mayer. At the time of the draft, I remember most having Mayer being the number one pick, but again, he was far from the consensus top talent.
Mayer was my recollection as well. Part of the issue might have been that the Pirates still thought Cruz was going to stick at SS. And they had Hayes locked in long-term. It’s tough to spend a #1/1 on someone that you’re flipping from SS to 2B.
This is just one more reason to allow the trading of draft picks.
Too early to tell, but I’d say that so far, about as expected.
Working pretty well considering they drafted Chandler and Solomento with their savings.
lol imagine not understanding how the small budget teams operate
Davis literally destroyed Milb pitching. Don’t give up on him just yet. If he can figure out hitting breaking pitches he’ll have a good career.
If.
Davis wouldn’t have even been Rule 5 eligible until this offseason if the Pirates had been smart and not rushed him.
It was, indeed, a mistake to rush Davis to the major leagues.
I understand the draft strategy, but if you draft a catcher #1/1, but better be almost guaranteed that he can stay at catcher.
Teams draft 2b 1b dh high all the time. Problem is his hitting. If he hit like scouts thought it wouldn’t matter where he played. Be nice if he could catch but that high you are after the bat.
That makes no sense. Guys get drafted for hit tool not position. Did Bryce Harper stay a catcher? He wasn’t an outfielder until the day of the draft.
Yes and one player makes a rule.
See ; Pat Venditte
One player can quite literally make a rule
Harper was the better athlete. Moving a guy to the OF is not nearly as negative to their value as moving a guy to 1B/DH. And FWIW, I said the same thing about the Tigers drafting Tork to be their 1B/DH.
It’s great that drafting Davis afforded the Pirates a stronger starting pitching group. Wonderful. But then it becomes paramount to surround that group with kids who can hit and field. In this regard, either the player development or scouting ( or both) department has failed miserably
Davis is the poster child for the failures here. I’d like to see the kid succeed but I wonder if it’ll be in Pittsburgh or somewhere else. And he’s not alone
The biggest factor for Davis was the acquisition of Bart, who exceeded expectations. Cut DJ Miller – Triolo and Endy can play 1B. Keep Bae up if he keeps hitting. Suwinski can platoon with Pham.
DJ Stewart?
Hi, Wratch!
No way they would put Endy at 1B since Davis didn’t make the team. Managers almost never have both rostered catchers in the lineup
Henry , can you play RF? No wait , can you play 1B? We want you to be a right fielder now… Actually you should focus on catching…
Henry , why aren’t you hitting?
He does have a cannon or an arm.
Palacios isn’t great—he hits weak (.230 average) and barely helps the team win, maybe half a game better than a random replacement guy. They replaced him with Hunter Stratton, a pitcher who’s way better (3.26 ERA) and could win them a full game or more for the same cheap price.
Then there’s Davis, the big draft pick from 2021. He’s been awful so far (.191 average), losing the team games, and he’s not good behind the plate either. Sending him to Triple-A while using Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez—who are already decent—means the Pirates might win more now instead of waiting for Davis to maybe get good later. It’s like picking a solid worker over a hyped-up rookie who keeps messing up.
Maybe next year for Henry. Could be backup catcher/ DH especially if Bart gets too expensive through arbitration and Cutch retires.
I believed Rookie Davis was going to achieve great things.
This ownership is awful. Remember Cole Tucker #1 pick in 2014. He did absolutely NOTHING, retired at 29. Henry Davis #1 overall a bust. Their infield won’t hit 32 HRs all year,that’s 1st,2nd,ss,3rd. That’s petty sad. They have pitching and didn’t go out and get some BATS. Skenes is great but won’t win 20 games because they will lose 2-1. Ownership is all about fannys in the seats,not winning ball games. My last game was 2010. My next will be when they SALE the team. Go Yankees!!! Gotta root for a team that wants to win come October.