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Pirates Release Travis Swaggerty

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The Pirates have released outfielder Travis Swaggerty, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was already removed from their roster when he was designated for assignment earlier this week, so this won’t impact their 40-man roster count.

The release appears to be a result of Swaggerty’s frustration injury situation. Earlier this summer, he spoke to Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about how he’s been dealing with migraines since November. “It’s been crazy, and there’s been times I’ve been at the plate where it felt like I could barely see because I had a migraine or I was having that vertigo,” Swaggerty said.

Swaggerty has been placed on the minor league injured list a couple of times this year due to the issue, including on June 16. He started a rehab assignment on July 7 but played just one game and hasn’t returned to a lineup since. Players on the injured list can’t be placed on outright waivers and Swaggerty doesn’t seem to have been formally activated from the IL, leaving the Pirates little choice but to release him.

Players in this situation will often sign a new deal with the releasing club, but that’s no guarantee and Swaggerty will at least have the opportunity to peruse other offers. Prior to his setbacks this year, he was a prospect of note, having been selected in the first round of the 2018 draft with the 10th overall pick. But the pandemic wiped out the minor leagues in 2020 and Swaggerty required shoulder surgery in 2021 after just 12 games.

After missing almost two whole years, he returned to the field last year and hit .254/.348/.399 in 107 Triple-A games. That was above-average production, but just barely, translating to a 102 wRC+. He also got into five major league games but struck out in four of his nine plate appearances and recorded just one hit, a single. Now this year’s migraine issues have prevented him from building off that healthy season, as he’s played just 22 minor league games this year.

Pirates Sign No. 1 Overall Pick Paul Skenes

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The Pirates announced Tuesday that they’ve officially signed right-hander Paul Skenes, whom they selected with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft. The now-former Louisiana State University ace will receive a $9.2MM signing bonus, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports. It’s the largest draft bonus ever issued under the current slotting system in Major League Baseball. Full slot value for the top overall selection was $9,721,000.

Skenes, 21, spent this year dominating for LSU. He made 19 starts for the Tigers with a 1.69 ERA in 122 2/3 innings. He struck out 209 of the 462 batters he faced, an incredible 45.2% rate, while walking just 20 for a 4.3% rate in that department.

Coming into the draft, he was a consensus top three pick by all of the major outlets alongside his LSU teammate Dylan Crews. ESPN, FanGraphs and Keith Law of The Athletic gave Skenes the #3 slot, Baseball America had him at #2, while MLB.com had him in the very top spot. MLB Pipeline puts an 80-grade on his fastball, the top mark possible on the 20-80 scale, noting that he averaged 98 mph this year while getting as high as 102. They also heap praise on his slider and compliment his changeup as well. He is described as a “classic” starter in that he is 6’6″ and 235 pounds, with the profile at MLB.com describing him as the best pitching prospect since Stephen Strasburg in 2009.

Even the profiles that didn’t have Skenes in the #1 slot admitted that there was a case to have done so, though the greater injury risk for pitchers played a factor in bumping him to #2 or #3. All observers consider him to be a potential future ace some think he is talented enough to pitch in the big leagues today. That’s not to say the Pirates will consider such a path, since pitchers are often shut down in their draft year and Skenes already logged a significant workload this year.

How the Bucs will proceed with Skenes will be a fascinating development to watch this winter and into next year, given that some evaluators think he’s ready for the big leagues. The Pirates showed some signs of life earlier this year and had some hope of emerging from their rebuilding phase, but they’ve faded in the past couple of months and seem likely to be out of contention this year. But if they think they are ready to make a leap in 2024, they will have to come up with a plan for where Skenes fits in there.

The club has been aggressively promoting its prospects this year, with Henry Davis, Endy Rodríguez, Jared Triolo, Nick Gonzales and Liover Peguero all called up in recent weeks, but there’s plenty of room in the rotation. Mitch Keller will undoubtedly be in the mix as he’s in his second straight solid season. Johan Oviedo is posting passable results behind him. 43-year-old Rich Hill could be traded this summer but is an impending free agent even if he doesn’t get moved. Other options like Osvaldo Bido, Luis Ortiz and Roansy Contreras have shown some encouraging signs at times but are still question marks right now, as in Quinn Priester, who was just promoted to make his debut in recent days. Mike Burrows was considered one of the club’s better pitching prospects coming into the year but required Tommy John surgery in April.

Baseball America has already updated its top 100 prospects lists after the draft and has Skenes #5 across the entire league. Skenes was the first #1 pick in MLB’s new lottery era, which was just implemented for this draft. The Pirates got the #1 selection despite the Nationals and A’s having slightly worse records in 2022.

Pirates Designate Travis Swaggerty For Assignment

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The Pirates announced several roster moves today, selecting the contract of right-hander Quinn Priester and recalling prospects Endy Rodríguez and Liover Peguero, moves which were reported on over the weekend. In corresponding moves, they optioned catcher Jason Delay, right-hander Cody Bolton and outfielder Josh Palacios. In order to open a 40-man roster spot for Priester, outfielder Travis Swaggerty was designated for assignment.

Swaggerty, 25, was the club’s first round draft pick in 2018, getting selected with the 10th overall pick. He was considered one of their top prospects during his time in the minors but encountered some obstacles on his path to the majors. He suffered a dislocated shoulder in 2021 that required surgery, limiting him to 12 games that year. When combined with the minor leagues being cancelled by the pandemic in 2020, he essentially missed two whole years of normal development.

Those setbacks aside, the club still didn’t want to risk losing him in the 2021 Rule 5 draft and gave him a 40-man roster spot that November. He was able to make his major league debut last year but took just nine trips to the plate in five games. He spent most of the year in Triple-A, hitting .254/.348/.399 at that level for a wRC+ of 102.

Here in 2023, Swaggerty has spent the entire year in the minors but has only been able to play 22 games. A report from Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from last month detailed how Swaggerty has been battling vertigo and migraines while his wife Peyton has been dealing with a rare and painful blood disease caused by a bite from a rabid raccoon. Swaggerty has made frequent trips to the IL in the minors this year, having played in just one game in the past six weeks.

The Bucs have fully embraced their youth movement this year, calling up Priester, Rodríguez and Peguero today, in addition to recent promotions of players like Henry Davis, Jared Triolo and Nick Gonzales. The unfortunate side effect of those aggressive promotions is that they will bump Swaggerty off the roster.

They will now have one week to trade the young outfielder or pass him through waivers. It will be interesting to see how much interest he will receive from other clubs around the league. On the one hand, he’s a former first-round pick and was a notable prospect not too long ago. But he’s faced so many difficulties and hasn’t seemed to be in peak form in quite a while. He does have two option years, one of which he’s burning here in 2023. If some club thinks they can help him figure out the migraine issues and get him back on track, he can still be sent to the minors for another season.

Pirates To Promote Endy Rodriguez, Liover Peguero

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The Pirates are continuing to dip into the upper tier of their prospect base, as both catcher Endy Rodriguez and middle infielder Liover Peguero are being called up from Triple-A, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links).  Rodriguez will be set to make his MLB debut, while Peguero is getting another look after appearing in a single game with the Pirates last season.

Rodriguez was a consensus top-55 prospect in preseason rankings from Baseball America (who had him 23rd), The Athletic’s Keith Law (34th) and MLB Pipeline and Baseball Prospectus (55th).  In updated midseason rankings, BA has now dropped Rodriguez to 55th while Pipeline has elevated him up to 34th, which perhaps speaks more to the methodology of each list — for instance, Baseball America has already incorporated picks from the 2023 draft class into their rankings.

Regardless, Rodriguez’s first full year at Triple-A hasn’t been the full-fledged breakout that the Pirates would’ve preferred to see, even though the team has opted to give the call to the 23-year-old.  Rodriguez has hit .268/.356/.415 with six homers over 315 plate appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis, with a slow start dampening his numbers.  The last month has been a lot better for Rodriguez, however, as he has a .986 OPS over his last 93 PA, with more walks (13) than strikeouts (11).

This hot streak will now carry Rodriguez into the Show, and he’ll join fellow prospect Quinn Priester in what will likely be a dual debut on Monday, as Priester is already set to start against the Guardians.  Between Rodriguez, Priester, and Henry Davis and Nick Gonzales already called up earlier this season, Pittsburgh’s youth movement is in full effect, and the remaining months of the 2023 campaign will provide an intriguing glimpse at what the Bucs hope is a future championship core.

Originally an international signing for the Mets, Rodriguez came to Pittsburgh as part of the three-team trade in January 2021 that sent Joe Musgrove to the Padres and Joey Lucchesi to New York.  That swap has already been very beneficial for the Pirates in the form of star closer David Bednar, and if Rodriguez lives up to his prospect potential, the trade may be seen as one of the key building blocks of the franchise’s rebuild.  Rodriguez was starting to hit in rookie ball even before the canceled 2020 minor league season, and his continued success led to a quick rise through three different levels of Pittsburgh’s farm system in 2022.

Rodriguez has displayed a knack for contact hitting and for getting on base throughout his minor league career, though his Isolated Power number has taken a notable drop in 2023.  Even if he’ll have to work on that extra pop against big league pitching, Rodriguez’s switch-hitting profile is particularly promising from the catcher position.

It has become increasingly clear this season that the Pirates indeed view Rodriguez as a catcher, as he has played almost all of his Triple-A games behind the plate (with eight appearances at first base).  Rodriguez had previously been deployed as a second baseman, left fielder, and right fielder earlier in his minor league career, as the Pirates explored how to best utilize Rodriguez’s athleticism, and also how to juggle playing time for Davis as a possible catcher of the future.

Since Davis has almost entirely been a right fielder during his brief time in the majors, it would seem like Pittsburgh’s plan is for Rodriguez to be a primary catcher and for Davis to be perhaps something of an overqualified backup — playing mostly every day in the outfield but also getting some occasional reps at catcher.  Defensive specialist Austin Hedges figures to still be in the mix for playing time and as a veteran mentor to Rodriguez and Davis, while current backup catcher Jason Delay might be something of an odd man out.

The 22-year-old Peguero is ranked by MLB Pipeline as the seventh-best prospect in the Pirates’ farm system, and he drew top-100 attention from Pipeline, BA, and Prospectus prior to the 2022 campaign.  Peguero had an uninspiring season at Double-A last year that still resulted in his one-game MLB debut, and thus far in 2023, he hit well enough in more Double-A action (.260/.333/.453 in 318 PA) to merit a promotion to Triple-A.  Now, the Bucs are making another aggressive call-up, as Peguero is headed back to the majors after only seven games in Indianapolis.

Known for his excellent speed and throwing arm, Peguero might have a future at shortstop, though Oneil Cruz will have first dibs on the position once he returns from the 60-day injured list.  Peguero and Gonzales figure to work as the Pirates’ middle infield duo until Cruz is healthy, and possibly into the future if or when the club makes a decision about Cruz’s defensive future.

NL Central Notes: McCutchen, Anderson, Swanson

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The Pirates announced this morning that they had activated veteran outfielder Andrew McCutchen from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Rodolfo Castro was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

McCutchen’s return should help to boost a Pirates offense that desperately needs a spark. After a hot 20-8 start to open the season, the club has cratered to a 41-51 record that puts in fourth place in the NL Central, 9.5 games back of the division-leading Brewers. That free-fall in the standings can be primarily attributed to an offense that ranks dead last in the majors since May 1 with a wRC+ of just 79, 21% below league average. As the team’s offense has slumped, McCutchen has maintained solid production with a .275/.399/.398 slash line in 208 plate appearances since the start of May.

While McCutchen’s steady veteran presence and an injection of youth from the likes of Henry Davis and Nick Gonzales have helped to steady the club’s offense somewhat, the Pirates will need improved performance from star outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who has slashed just .150/.209/.250 since returning from low back inflammation earlier this month. That performance has dropped his drop his wRC+ to just 109 this season, a far cry from the 133 wRC+ he offered the past two seasons.

More from around the NL Central…

  • The Brewers announced today that they had placed third baseman Brian Anderson on the 10-day IL with a low back strain. It’s been a difficult season for Anderson as the 30 year old has slashed just .229/.317/.373 with a wRC+ of 90 in 85 games this season while acting as Milwaukee’s primary third baseman. Replacing Anderson on the roster is infielder Jahmai Jones, who kicked his Brewers career off by going 2-4 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base in five trips to the plate after signing with the club on a major league deal earlier this month. Infielder Andruw Monasterio figures to handle the hot corner while Anderson is on the shelf, with Jones sliding into Monasterio’s typical utility role.
  • Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson is eligible to come off the IL for the first time today after suffering a left heel contusion just before the All-Star break. That being said, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma relays that manager David Ross expects Swanson to be out for a least a little while longer. According to Ross, while Swanson’s heel improved over the break, he still is feeling “some pain” when running the bases. While Swanson is on the shelf, Nico Hoerner has slid from second base to shortstop, opening up the keystone for Christopher Morel.

Pirates To Promote Quinn Priester

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The Pirates are calling up another of their top prospects, as Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter links) that right-hander Quinn Priester is expected to make his MLB debut on Monday in a start against the Guardians.  The Bucs will need to make moves to both clear space on the active roster and open a spot for Priester on the 40-man roster.

The 22-year-old Priester was the 18th overall pick of the 2019 draft, and both MLB Pipeline and The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked him within their preseason top-100 prospects lists in each of the last three years.  Pipeline currently has Priester rated 54th among all prospects in baseball, describing him as “super-athletic on the mound and at times has shown he can be a very efficient strike-thrower.”

Priester made his Triple-A debut in 2022, albeit tossing only 9 1/3 innings at the Pirates’ top affiliate.  It was something of a compressed year overall for Priester since he missed the first two months of the 2022 campaign due to an oblique injury, and his 90 1/3 total innings last season were spread over four different minor league levels.  The righty’s first full Triple-A season hasn’t exactly been dominant, as Priester has a 4.31 ERA over 87 2/3 innings, with a modest 22.4% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate.  A grounder specialist, Priester has a 53.8% groundball rate and a .316 BABIP this year, which could lend itself to his only okay Triple-A numbers.

Priester has a four-pitch repertoire, headlined by a plus curveball and a good changeup.  His fastball draws somewhat mixed reviews, as Law feels “he’ll probably have to emphasize his offspeed stuff over his 92-96 mph fastball, which plays down from its velocity.”  On the flipside, Pipeline gives Priester’s fastball a 60-grade, and feels he can add more velocity over time.

Before Paul Skenes was drafted first overall last week, Priester had been the top pitching prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system, and he’ll now become the latest member of the Pirates’ youth movement to make his debut in the Show.  Given how injuries have thinned out the rotation, Priester will get plenty of chances to stick around if he pitches well, and more opportunity might emerge after the trade deadline if Rich Hill is dealt elsewhere.

Who Could The Pirates Trade At The Deadline?

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The Pirates jumped out to a hot start in 2023, sitting on a 20-9 record at the end of April that made it seem like the days of rebuilding were suddenly in the rearview mirror. Unfortunately, they haven’t been able to maintain that, falling back to earth with an 8-18 record in May. Ownership was still supportive of buying at the deadline as recently as June 21, but the club has continued to slide in the standings.

The Bucs now find themselves with a record of 41-49. They are fourth in the National League Central, well behind the Reds and Brewers. They’re also behind the third-place Cubs, who have the best run differential of the bunch and a soft schedule coming out of the break. FanGraphs currently pegs Pittsburgh’s playoff odds at just 1.4%.

Barring a tremendous surge after the All-Star break, the club will likely have to set their sights on 2024. That will mean having discussions about trading away veterans, both to recoup some younger players to help in future seasons and to open up playing time for the players they already have. Let’s take a look at some options, though there aren’t too many players on the roster who fit the bill.

Rental Players

Rich Hill

Hill continues to defy Father Time and is still a reasonably effective starter at the age of 43. He’s tossed 98 innings over 18 starts this year and currently has a 4.78 ERA, striking out 21.1% of batters faced while walking 9% and getting grounders at a 35.9% clip. He’s making $8MM this year, with about $2.6MM still to be paid out when the deadline rolls around.

He won’t command a huge return as a back-end innings eater, but the Bucs could perhaps line up with some club that simply wants a guy to take the ball every five days. Just a couple of years ago, the Nationals were able to get Lane Thomas in return for a 37-year-old Jon Lester and his 5.02 ERA at that time. The Pirates shouldn’t expect that kind of return on Hill, but it serves to demonstrate that they could at least take a flier on someone by putting Hill out there.

Carlos Santana

Santana, 37, isn’t likely to be a huge deadline addition at this stage of his career. However, it was just a year ago that the Royals were able to trade him to the Mariners for a couple of younger relievers. This year, he’s still showing his good approach at the plate, with his 10.5% walk rate and 18% strikeout rate both better than average. He’s hit nine home runs, but his .233/.311/.390 batting line is a bit below average, translating to a wRC+ of 91.

The switch-hitter has always been a bit better against lefties and that continues to be the case this year, as he’s slashing .260/.348/.416 against southpaws for a wRC+ of 109. There are likely some contenders who would be happy to utilize him as a short-side platoon bat and pinch-hitter off the bench. His first base defense continues to be considered above average. He’s making $6.725MM this year, which will leave around $2.2MM at deadline time.

Ji Man Choi

Choi, 32, appeared in nine games before a strained Achilles tendon in his left foot sent him to the injured list. He was reinstated just before the break, and his form in the next few weeks will likely determine his trade interest. He’s hit .237/.340/.428 in his career with a 13.1% walk rate, leading to a wRC+ of 114. The left-handed hitter has been especially strong with the platoon advantage, hitting .245/.351/.454 against righties in his career for a 124 wRC+. He’s earning $4.65MM this year and about $1.5MM will be remaining at the end of the month.

Austin Hedges

Hedges has long been considered one of the best defensive catchers in the game but doesn’t provide much with the bat. That’s especially true this year, where he’s hitting just .179/.230/.232. His wRC+ of 26 is dead last in the league among players with at least 170 plate appearances. Yet he continues to get work based on his defensive acumen and strong reputation for working with pitchers.

Trading catchers in midseason is generally tricky, as it can be challenging to learn an entirely new pitching staff on the fly. If the Bucs can’t line up a trade for that reason, they may have to think about moving on from Hedges regardless. Catching prospect Henry Davis is already up with the big league club to get his bat in the lineup but is playing the outfield at the moment. The club’s other top catching prospect, Endy Rodríguez, is in Triple-A and perhaps ready for a promotion. Both Davis and Rodríguez play other positions and it remains to be seen who the club considers its true “catcher of the future,” so perhaps they could use the last few months of the season to get a look at one or both.

Andrew McCutchen

McCutchen makes theoretical sense as a trade candidate since he’s 36 years old, an impending free agent and performing well at the plate this year. The Rangers have reportedly expressed interest, but all signs seem to point to Cutch staying put. He’s been quite open about how happy he is to be back in Pittsburgh and plans to spend the rest of his career there. The club is apparently on board with that and doesn’t seem to have any designs on trading him.

Signed/Controlled For One Extra Year

Jarlín García

García has a 2.89 ERA dating back to 2019 and had that figure at 3.74 last year but was non-tendered by the Giants. The Bucs swooped in and signed him to a $2.5MM deal with a $3.25MM club option for 2024. Unfortunately, he’s been on the injured list all year due to a biceps injury. Players on the IL can still be traded, but there won’t be much interest unless he shows some progress in the next few weeks.

Longer-Term Players

Mitch Keller

There are no indications the club has any plans of trading Keller. In fact, he’s the best rotation building block they have, with his 3.31 ERA this year putting him just outside the top 10 in the National League. But although he’s only been breaking out over the past year or so, his control is dwindling since he’s a bit of a late bloomer. Debuting back in 2019, he struggled in his first few seasons before putting things together recently and now has just two seasons of control left beyond this one.

The Bucs are in a similar situation with Keller to where they were with Bryan Reynolds not too long ago. Reynolds was clearly an important member of the club but there was a ticking clock as his free agency was getting closer. In that case, the two sides lined up on an extension to potentially keep him in Pittsburgh through 2031, and a similar decision might have to be made on Keller.

David Bednar

Bednar, 28, continues to cement himself as one of the better relievers in the league. He has a 1.27 ERA this year, striking out 29.8% of hitters while walking just 5%, earning 17 saves in the process. Given the volatility of reliever performance, there could be an argument for the Bucs to cash in while his trade value is high, as they can currently market him with three seasons of control beyond this one. However, Bednar’s a fan favorite, having been born in Pittsburgh and raised in the area. Since the club has shown flashes that suggest the rebuild won’t go on for much longer, it seems unlikely they would consider moving a key piece like Bednar. As with Keller, other teams will still surely try, but he’s likely staying put.

Connor Joe

Joe isn’t anywhere close to free agency, as he will have four years of club control remaining after this one. But while many of the players on the club’s roster are in their mid-20s, Joe will be turning 31 next month. He’s also having a decent season, hitting .240/.332/.421 for a wRC+ of 106 while playing first base and the outfield corners. Perhaps the club would be tempted to put him on the trading block now since his trade value will likely only decrease as he ages and becomes more expensive. He’ll finish this year with his service time at 2.136 and could qualify for arbitration as a Super Two player.

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Ultimately, the Bucs don’t have too much to offer as sellers this winter. The veterans they do have will get some interest but won’t be headlining any blockbuster deals. If they get on a hot streak in the next few weeks, perhaps they just decide to hold onto everyone and hope for a strong finish. But their chances of contention should be much stronger next year and they could start lining things up for that.

By moving Hedges, they could get a look at Davis and Rodríguez as catchers at the big league level while continuing to evaluate their bats. By moving Santana, Choi and/or Joe out of the first base/designated hitter/corner outfield mix, they could open up plate appearances for players currently in the minors, whether that’s a prospect like Liover Peguero or a potential late bloomer like Miguel Andujar. The latter struggled in the majors earlier this year but has hit .409/.459/.634 in Triple-A since accepting an outright assignment two months ago. If added to the club’s roster later this year, they could retain him via arbitration for 2024.

Pirates Outright Rob Zastryzny

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The Pirates have sent reliever Rob Zastryzny through outright waivers, per the transaction tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment on Friday and apparently went unclaimed.

Zastryzny signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh over the offseason and broke camp with the MLB team. The 31-year-old southpaw made 18 appearances around a pair of injured list stints. He allowed 13 runs (10 earned) across 17 innings, striking out and walking 13 batters apiece. Those aren’t great bottom line results, although Zastryzny did average a personal-best 92.9 MPH on his fastball.

This is the second straight year and fifth overall in which the former second-round draftee got to the MLB level. He’s logged 55 2/3 career innings of 4.85 ERA ball, striking out a below-average 18.6% of batters faced. The Missouri product has allowed just under five earned runs per nine over 366 2/3 career Triple-A frames.

Zastryzny was previously outrighted by the Cubs five seasons ago. Players with multiple career outrights can decline the assignment in favor of minor league free agency. The Bucs haven’t announced whether Zastryzny plans to do so.

Pirates Select Paul Skenes With First Pick Of 2023 Draft

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The Pirates selected LSU right-hander Paul Skenes with the first overall pick of the 2023 amateur draft.  The 21-year-old Skenes joins Henry Davis (2021), Gerrit Cole (2011), Bryan Bullington (2002), Kris Benson (1996), and Jeff King (1986) as players selected by Pittsburgh as the first overall pick.  FanSided’s Robert Murray was the first to report that Pittsburgh was taking Skenes.

In a draft class that is heavier on position players in the top tier, Skenes has long stood out as the best pitcher of this year’s prospects, and one of the favorites to go first overall.  MLB Pipeline ranked Skenes as the top overall draft prospect of 2023, while Baseball America ranked him second (behind LSU teammate Dylan Crews) and Fangraphs, The Athletic’s Keith Law, and ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel all had Skenes third.

The pundits are unanimous in their praise for Skenes’ fastball (which touches 100 mph) and slider, which are both considered plus-plus pitches.  Relying mostly on this two-pitch arsenal, Skenes dominated collegiate batters, helping lead LSU to the College World Series title.  His changeup is a bit more of a work in progress simply because Skenes hasn’t thrown it all that much, but Pipeline’s scouting report describes the pitch as “88-93 mph with fade and is a solid offering when he lands it in the strike zone.”  Skenes has strong command of his pitches, and he has a classic pitcher’s build at 6’6 and 235 pounds.  If this wasn’t enough, Skenes was also an excellent hitter while playing as a catcher before he focused entirely on pitching — while there hasn’t been any two-way speculation, it at least speaks to Skenes’ athleticism.

The Pirates earned the top pick via the first-ever MLB Draft Lottery, which took place last December at the Winter Meetings.  In an effort to combat tanking, the lottery was instituted in the new Collective Bargaining Agreement as a new method to determine the top six picks in the draft order.  All 18 of the non-playoff teams technically had a shot at earning a top-six pick, though naturally teams with worse records had better chances of landing one of those top spots.  The Nationals and Athletics each had worse records than the Pirates’ 62-100 mark in 2022, but it was Pittsburgh who lucked out and landed the first overall pick.

The Bucs’ rebuild has made them regulars near the top of the draft in recent years, but between these selections, their additional picks later in the draft, international signings and prospects picked up in trades, the Pirates are hopeful that their young core is getting ready to turn the franchise around.  We saw some hints of promise with the Pirates’ excellent 19-9 record in April, though their subsequent struggles indicate that Pittsburgh’s true breakout might be at least one more season away.

With light perhaps at the end of the rebuilding tunnel, the Pirates certainly hope that this is the last time they’ll have such a high pick (barring some major lottery luck) in the foreseeable future.  This makes Skenes an even more important prospect as perhaps the last consensus blue-chipper the Pirates might be selecting in the coming years, and he immediately becomes the club’s most prized pitching prospect.  Since Ben Cherington was hired as Pittsburgh’s GM in November 2019, his front offices have favored position players with their top picks — Nick Gonzales seventh overall in 2020, Davis first overall in 2021, and Termarr Johnson fourth overall last year.

The first overall pick has an assigned slot value of $9,721,000, and it remains to be seen if finances might have played some role in Pittsburgh’s choice of Skenes.  Crews was rumored to be wanting an above-slot signing bonus, so taking Skenes might have been a better financial fit for the Pirates, plus Skenes was in no way a reach at 1-1.  With a $16,185,700 bonus pool to work with, the Bucs have plenty of flexibility to sign Skenes and spread some money around to other highly-touted prospects further down the board.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Pirates Place McCutchen, Hayes On Injured List; Designate Rob Zastryzny

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The Pirates made a number of moves before tonight’s game in Arizona. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes were both placed on the 10-day injured list. To take the active roster spots, Pittsburgh reinstated first baseman Ji Man Choi from the 60-day IL and recalled right-hander Cody Bolton. In order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, Pittsburgh designated reliever Rob Zastryzny for assignment after activating him from his own IL stint.

McCutchen’s placement is retroactive to July 6 and on account of right elbow inflammation. He’d been nagged by elbow soreness dating back a few weeks, and the club apparently decided to give him some time to rest it completely. Next week’s All-Star Break means McCutchen could miss as few as five games if he’s able to return when first eligible.

Signed to a one-year deal over the winter, the former MVP has had an excellent return season in Pittsburgh. He’s hitting .268/.383/.425 with 10 homers across 316 trips to the plate. He’s walking at an elite 15.5% clip while striking out only 20.3% of the time.

Hayes is dealing with lower back inflammation. The same issue sent him to the IL on June 28. He was reinstated last night but evidently isn’t fully healthy after all. The Pirates used Jared Triolo as their primary third baseman while Hayes was out, so the rookie infielder figures to draw back into the starting lineup.

Choi will try to get his first Pittsburgh campaign rolling heading into the Break. Acquired from the Rays over the offseason, the lefty-hitting first baseman only appeared in nine games before a strained Achilles tendon in his left foot put him on the shelf. Choi was ice cold in the season’s first couple weeks but reached base at a quality .341 clip for Tampa Bay last year. With Carlos Santana at first base, Choi draws into the starting lineup tonight at designated hitter. He’ll hit fifth against Arizona ace Zac Gallen.

With Choi coming back from the 60-day IL, Pittsburgh needed to clear a 40-man spot. That’ll be at Zastryzny’s expense. The 31-year-old lefty cracked the Opening Day roster after an offseason minor league deal. He made 18 appearances, working to a 5.29 ERA through 17 frames. Zastryzny had as many walks as strikeouts (13 apiece) and twice landed on the IL.

The more recent of those stints came three weeks ago, when forearm inflammation put him on the shelf. Zastryzny is apparently now healthy, but the Bucs elected not to carry him on the roster. He’s out of minor league option years, so Pittsburgh needed to either plug him back into the MLB bullpen or take him off the 40-man.

Within the next week, Pittsburgh will trade him or put him on waivers. Zastryzny has cleared outright waivers in the past, so he’d have the ability to test free agency if he goes unclaimed again.

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