The Pirates have claimed infielder Ryan Kreidler off waivers from the Tigers, according to Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Pirates had an open spot on their 40-man roster for Kriedler, so no corresponding move was necessary. The club’s roster now stands at 40 players.
Kreidler, 27, was a fourth-round pick by the Tigers back in 2019. He made his big league debut during the 2022 campaign and has spent each of the past four seasons in an up-and-down role with the Tigers as a utility man. He’s gotten into just 89 total games at the big league level, but hasn’t shown much with the bat in that time. Across 211 MLB plate appearances, Kreidler has a lackluster .138/.208/.176 slash line with an ugly 31.8% strikeout rate. That’s a tough slash line to stomach from even a bench player at the big league level, though what he lacks in offensive ability he makes up for with versatility; Kreidler has split time between shortstop, center field, and third base throughout his time in the majors with brief cameos at second base and in left field as well.
He’s played those same positions in the minors over the years, and is generally regarded as a high-level defender at both shortstop and in center field. Still, that wasn’t enough to assure Kreidler of his 40-man roster spot with Detroit. The Tigers are in the midst of a banner year where a number of role players have stepped up to contribute to the team’s offense. Kreidler’s role as a versatile, quality defender who hits from the right side has been usurped by Javier Baez, who has enjoyed a rebound campaign after dealing with injuries and ineffectiveness during the majority of his time with the Tigers.
While still just an average to slightly below average hitter overall, Baez’s performance is a big step up over Kreidler, and now that he’s no longer the club’s everyday shortstop he can pitch in as a more versatile piece with reps at third base and in center field—a change that covers all of Kreidler’s usual positions. Even as Kreidler no longer has a clear role with the Tigers, however, he’s managed to find himself a role with the Pirates. Pittsburgh has had one of the weakest offenses in the sport for a few years now, so the club is no stranger to light-hitting players on the roster. Perhaps Kreidler will get the opportunity to compete with Liover Peguero or Ronny Simon for a bench job down the stretch, a role in which his elite glove and defensive versatility can shine a bit more.
There even could be some room for optimism with Kreidler’s bat if he can get some reps over the season’s final few weeks. In 84 games at Triple-A Toledo this year, Kreidler has slashed a perfectly respectable .251/.374/.410 with 25 doubles and 14 steals. Expecting that level of production from Kreidler would be unrealistic at this point, but if he can even bring his numbers into the 80-90 wRC+ range it would go a long way to establishing him as a viable glove-first bench piece.
A+
Can’t be much worse than Suwinski at the plate
Kreidler a career .138 hitter and Suwinski a career .199 hitter. I had to look it up after your comment.
Suwinski’s hit 57 HRs; Kreidler has hit 2
He’s hitting .124 this year, and .182 last year. 12 home runs over that time. He’s gotten worse. But if all that matters is his 45 combines home runs between the 22 and 23 season then sure Jack is amazing.
I said Kreidler can’t be much worse.
and in the last two years he’s hit a total of 12 dingers
Kriedler has not really been given much of an opportunity. 211 ABs over 3 seasons is 70 ABs a year. His glove plays. Who will be the starting SS in Pittsburgh next year? Defense matters. There is hope for upside in his bat.
This guy has an OPS+ of 11 over about 200 at bats.
He was a fourth round draft choice.
He could be Ozzie Smith or Mark Belanger and still not be a ML player.
And the Pirates need hitters not fielders.They have them in house.
188ab .138 avg….hitting over .200 matters too
Oh yes he can!
Kriedler couldnt hit water if he fell out of a boat lol good riddance
Cherington dumpster diving again.
-Theman3
You can call it that. I prefer to call it audition time since they’re long out of contention.
Sorry to burst your bubble but I am well aware that major league ready hitters cost money.
I didn’t just fall of the turnip truck
I think Kreidler will be a decent player. He’s already a plus defender on the infield, and showed he is a pretty good center fielder as well. He hits decent in AAA, but has found little success hitting in the bigs. He’s also been very unfortunate in the injury department and has lost parts of 3 seasons. I’ve said his development was stunted and waited for a breakout that never came. I think he’ll come around with more MLB at bats.
He’ll fit right in. The Pirates have also found little success hitting in the bigs. And if you think his development was stunted with Detroit, well buckle up.
The Bucs don’t need another injury prone player, they already have one in Endy Rodriguez
He’s not injury prone. He had core muscle surgery once that set him on the shelf for quite some time. And, he was hit by a pitch and injured his hand.
Prior to 2025, I predicted he will be a serviceable major leaguer sometime and somewhere. I still believe that. Not saying he’s going to hit .300, but the bar is low for a good shortstop and I can see him hitting .240-.250 with 15+ homers in a year. That’s acceptable for a shortstop on at least 20 teams. And we already know he can defend.
Good luck with him. I sincerely hope it works out well for all parties.
He’s also hit .251 for Toledo this year, with 4 homers and 4 triples. OB% is .374 with OPS is .784. I’d also like to mention he got off to a somewhat slow start, so a decent chunk of that production came over the last couple months.
Maybe Kreidler has just been unlucky with his injuries that have stifled his performance but Pirate fans know that Cherington has not exactly found a lot of diamonds in the rough.
Remember this name for future Pirates trivia. Who was the last player Cherington acquired.
Actually Cherington should be brought back. Player development didn’t take a step forward it took a giant leap. That the number 1 thing for a gm, find and develop young players. If that’s the only thing they do they are good. Cherington probably under contract still. Team is his team for the rest of the decade anyways. He should get another year. Since he finally actually got development where it needed to be Nutting will fire him. No idea. Seems he will be back but Nutting I don’t know. Hopefully Nutting isn’t as stupid as Pirates fans who want to fire someone who built this amazing farm system.
He will be back in Toledo in 2026
Wenatchee Applesox legend
The only person to do worse with a bat is Shi Zhengli
F-
Cherington collects no hitting infielders like kids still collect baseball cards
Even I hit a lot better than this guy
Unless you played in the majors yourself, it is an absurd notion you hit better than any batter who ever has.
I was speaking for Mendoza.
do you suffer from reading comprehension?
Mendoza said he could hit better than this guy
This guy doesn’t mean every player who’s ever played
Paul- Luke thought that I meant myself as opposed to my poster persona.
He is correct and you are correct and I was basically saying it “ tongue in cheek” and Luke did not pick up on that because it was not clear.
Fans in Detroit hope the fresh start helps get him going ! He’s a top notch fielder where ever he plays.
Why would Cherington even bother claiming this guy? The Pirates need players that could hit MLB pitching not versatile glove first men. This guy will be DFAed as soon as Ben sees another pitcher on the waiver wire.
Well Kreid, you tried. A Pirate is better than serving Kentucky fried.
I think they forgot Nick Solak is hitting like .330 in Triple A. Why not give him a shot.
Twin
They gave him 10 at bats over a couple of weeks and wondered why he didn’t get many hits. He got mostly splinters sitting on the bench. Unfortunately they probably won’t give him another chance.
Twin- It would make too much sense to start Solak for a week to give him some at bats.
There are plenty of players that they could dfa.
If he does well they could reward him with a ML contract for next year.
Even Williams could have been put back on the roster as he has been hitting well in AAA for almost two months.
Good to see that the Pirates are making a push to win the International League Triple A championship at the expense of not calling up players to the Major League team.
Poppopts
Cherington seems to think his main job is to have a competitive team at AAA. He has been successfull stocking it with many AAAA players.
At least they have at least one potential championship team in the organization.
I think that Altoona is doing well too.
Shugart and Moreta are good ML relievers at Indianapolis.
It is refreshing to see two good teams in the minors as they have not had that for awhile.
In the Tiger organization both Kreidler and Gage Workman were glove 1st, bat 2nd players. Workman was lost in the Rule 5 draft to the Cubs and din’t make it. He’s back in Toledo too. The Tigers have a lot of middle infielder prospects: Lee, Anderson, McGonigal, Cruz.
Kreidler needs to find a new home. The Pirates are a good place for him to get regular at bats. He never got regular playing time in Detroit. He got a little at the beginning of this year, but Javy Baez woke up and showed everyone he’s a + CF’er too.
Good luck to Ryan. Major league baseball is really, really hard.
“Ooooh look who I got….a AAAA utility infielder with NO power!, I can’t believe we got him!” Let’s schedule a bobble head day for him. Smh
Actually, Tigers fans were excited about him because of his power. In 2021, he hit 22 HRs across AA and AAA. Then, the injuries happened. He got off to a nice start in 2023 and hit 12 HR in like 64 games. Hurt again. And, these weren’t cheap injuries. I think one was HBP and he broke his hand. Unfortunately, the Tigers may be to blame for his offensive struggles. They brought him up before he was ready (never really graduated AAA, IMO). And then, they had him learn new positions while still trying to learn how to hit major league pitching.
I think Kreidler is going to have a long MLB career. He just needs more time and patience, something the Tigers were a little short on
Cherington will have him catching since he is also one who gives outfielders gloves to infielders and tells them to go play out there like it is Little League.
Homered last night for Indy.
Why? 🙁
A line of .138/.208/.176 in 211 PA’s might be a little more terrible than “lackluster.”
Best luck to Kreidler. Always liked him and rooted for him. Excellent defender – reliable at SS & CF. But he never could figure it out at the plate, although he had several seasons plagued by weird collection of injuries. Maybe something will click with change of scenery.