Pirates To Select Chris Devenski

1:17pm: The Pirates optioned Hunter Barco to clear an active roster spot, per Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. They still need to open a 40-man spot.

1:06pm: The Pirates are selecting the contract of veteran right-hander Chris Devenski from Triple-A Indianapolis, reports Alex Stumpf. They’ll need to make a corresponding roster move prior to first pitch (about four and a half hours from now). Ethan Hullihen reports that Devenski had an upward mobility clause in his contract, which means the Bucs would’ve had to either add him to the 40-man roster or allow him to go to another club willing to put him on its own major league roster.

The 35-year-old Devenski signed a minor league deal with the Bucs back in January. He’s logged big league time in each of the past 10 seasons. In 2016-17, Devenski was a dominant force out of the Houston bullpen, combining for 189 innings of 2.38 ERA ball with a 28.2% strikeout rate against a 6.4% walk rate. He’s never recaptured that form, however, and has bounced around the league journeyman style for the past several seasons.

Since Opening Day 2018, Devenski has pitched 227 2/3 frames in the majors and logged a 5.18 earned run average — a far cry from his outstanding first two seasons. Along the way, he’s pitched not only for the Astros but also the D-backs, Phillies, Rays, Angels and most recently the Mets. Devenski tossed 16 1/3 frames for New York last season and held opponents to a 2.16 ERA with a 21.5% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. That was his first season with a major league ERA under 4.46 since 2018.

Devenski has had a strong start to his season down in Indy. He’s pitched 10 2/3 innings out of the bullpen and held opponents to just one earned run on five hits and a pair of walks with 15 punchouts. That comes out to a huge 38.5% strikeout rate against a tiny 5.1% walk rate. That lofty strikeout rate is supported by excellent swinging-strike and opponents’ chase rates (17.2% and 41.8%, respectively). Devenski’s 92.7 mph average fastball is a ways from its 94.7 mph peak but still higher than last year’s 91.9 mph average from Triple-A (and 92.4 mph in the majors).

Devenski has seven-plus years of big league service, so the Pirates aren’t able to option him without his consent. Hullihen suggests that Devenski will likely be amenable to that setup if the team chooses. Given his strong performance in Indianapolis, however, there’s a chance he’ll simply be given an opportunity to carve out a role in a Pirates bullpen that still has some spots up for grabs.