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Pirates Activate Ke’Bryan Hayes, Option Wil Crowe

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The Pirates are reinstating Ke’Bryan Hayes from the 60-day injured list, the team announced. Wil Crowe has been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis to clear active roster space. Hayes is hitting second and starting at third base in this evening’s game against the Marlins.

Hayes is arguably the most important player in the Pirates organization, so his return is a welcome development for the team and its fans alike. The 24-year-old entered the year as a popular pick to win the NL Rookie of the Year award after he burst onto the scene in 2020. Hayes, known more for his elite glove than his bat in the minors, made his MLB debut last September and hit a spectacular .376/.442/.682 over his first 95 plate appearances. No one reasonably expected him to duplicate that kind of production, but the offensive outburst coupled with his sterling defensive reputation makes it easy to envision Hayes as a cornerstone position player whom the rebuilding club can build around over the next few years.

Unfortunately, a left wrist injury sent him to the injured list just two games into the regular season. While Hayes wasn’t initially expected to miss much time, he suffered a setback in late April that has kept him out of major league action for the past two months. In his absence, the Pirates have turned to Erik González, Phillip Evans and Wilmer Difo at the hot corner to dreadful results. Pittsburgh third basemen have hit just .201/.254/.282, which ties the Royals group for the worst offensive output at the position in the league.

Crowe, acquired from the Nationals as part of the Josh Bell deal last winter, has made eight appearances (seven starts) this season. They’ve not gone well, as the righty has only managed a 7.26 ERA/5.06 SIERA with worse than average strikeout and walk rates (19.3% and 11.7%, respectively). The Pirates viewed the 26-year-old as a big league ready rotation arm when they brought him in, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see him back in the majors in relatively short order if he can get on track in Indianapolis. The 20-34 Bucs aren’t contenders, so the primary focus this season is determining whether younger, cost-controlled players like Crowe can be a part of the organization’s long-term future.

Hayes’ activation from the 60-day IL required the opening of a 40-man roster spot. Right-hander JT Brubaker, who went on bereavement leave last weekend, has been placed on the COVID-19 IL while he goes through intake testing protocols. That temporarily creates the 40-man vacancy for Hayes’ return, although the club will need to make another 40-man move once Brubaker clears the intake process.

Pirates Trade Ildemaro Vargas To Diamondbacks

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The Diamondbacks announced Wednesday that they’ve acquired infielder Ildemaro Vargas from the Pirates in exchange for cash. Infielder Domingo Leyba was designated for assignment to clear a spot for Vargas, who is returning to the club that originally gave him his first Major League opportunity.

Now 29 years old, the switch-hitting Vargas made his MLB debut with the Snakes back in 2017. He was an up-and-down utility piece for them up through the 2020 season, when Arizona designated him for assignment and flipped him to the Twins for cash. That kicked off a series of team changes for Vargas, who has since ridden the DFA carousel from Minnesota to Chicago (Cubs) to Pittsburgh before today’s return to Arizona.

Vargas batted .257/.287/.387 in 265 plate appearances with the D-backs from 2017-20 but has struggled in limited action since that time. He’s tallied 70 plate appearances between the Twins, Cubs and Pirates but managed only a .167/.214/.292 output. Now back with the Diamondbacks, he’ll likely serve as a bench option and provide some depth at second base, third base and perhaps in the outfield corners.

The 25-year-old Leyba came to the Diamondbacks in 2014’s three-team swap that sent Robbie Ray to Arizona, Shane Greene to Detroit and Didi Gregorius to the Yankees. The addition of Ray obviously proved to be of great benefit for the Diamondbacks, but Leyba hasn’t panned out as they hoped. He’s just 7-for-47 with a 29.6 percent strikeout rate in 54 MLB plate appearances — including an 0-for-22 showing so far in 2021.

To his credit, Leyba has hit well in parts of two Triple-A seasons, slashing a combined .311/.361/.547 in 535 plate appearances. He’s also out of minor league options, generally light on power and is not regarded as a top-tier defender anywhere in the infield. He has experience at shortstop, second base and third base. A club with room on its big league bench could take a shot on Leyba, but neither FanGraphs nor Baseball America ranked among the organization’s top 30 prospects heading into the 2021 season.

Pirates Injury Notes: Kuhl, Hayes, Moran, Evans, Swaggerty

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Pirates GM Ben Cherington updated reporters (including Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review) with the latest on several injured Bucs players.  The most imminent news concerns Chad Kuhl, who will be activated from the 10-day injured list to start Monday’s game with the Royals.

Kuhl was placed on the IL on April 22 due to right shoulder discomfort.  After tossing a pair of rehab outings at Triple-A, Kuhl will look to get back on the big league mound and turn the page on what has been a tough 2021 season.  Kuhl has a 6.32 ERA over his first four starts and 15 2/3 innings, in large part due to an extreme lack of control — Kuhl has 16 walks in those 15 2/3 innings.

“Part of Chad’s rehab was not just getting healthy, it was making sure that he continued to build off what he had done in that last start and attack the strike zone,” Cherington said, referencing Kuhl’s final start before his IL visit.  While Kuhl still allowed three earned runs in five innings against the Brewers on April 18, he did walk just one Milwaukee batter, while striking out six.

Ke’Bryan Hayes might also soon be returning to the Pirates, as Cherington indicated that “all reports have been good” about Hayes’ Triple-A rehab stint.  The star rookie went on the IL after just two games due to left wrist inflammation, and his recovery process already hit one setback in April.  With so much time missed, Cherington felt Hayes needed “almost a Spring Training progression” to get ramped up, since “the last thing we wanted to do was sort of rush him back and then something else happens because his body was just not ready….So that’s why you’ve seen maybe a little longer progression than we would in some other cases with rehab.”

Hayes has already appeared in seven games with Triple-A Indianapolis, and figures to clock a few more appearances before June 3, when he is eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list.  It is quite possible Hayes will be activated that day, when the Pirates begin a four-game series at home with the Marlins.

Colin Moran and Phillip Evans are also likely to be starting rehab assignment of their own, possibly as early as within the next two days, Cherington implied.  Moran has been out since May 9 due to a groin injury, while Evans went on the IL on May 13 because of a hamstring strain.  Evans’ versatility helped the Pirates fill several holes around the diamond before he too was lost to the injured list, while Moran has hit well as the team’s regular first baseman.

On the minor league front, Cherington said that Travis Swaggerty’s dislocated right shoulder is “going in [the] direction” of requiring surgery.  Swaggerty suffered the injury while diving back to first base during a Triple-A game, and he has spent much of the last two weeks weighing recovery options.  Swaggerty was the tenth overall pick of the 2018 draft, and MLB Pipeline ranks him as the ninth-best prospect in Pittsburgh’s farm system.  Surgery would seemingly end the season for the outfielder, an especially tough blow since Swaggerty already lost a year of development when the 2020 minor league season was canceled.

Pirates Select Chase De Jong, Designate Ildemaro Vargas

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The Pirates announced they’ve selected the contract of right-hander Chase De Jong to start this afternoon’s game against the Rockies. In a corresponding move, infielder Ildemaro Vargas was designated for assignment. Righty JT Brubaker, meanwhile, will be away from the team temporarily on bereavement leave.

When he takes the mound this afternoon, De Jong will be appearing in the big leagues for the fifth consecutive season. Pitching for the Mariners, Twins and Astros during parts of the 2017-20 seasons, De Jong worked to a 7.12 ERA with poor strikeout and walk numbers (14.2% and 10.6%, respectively) in 15 appearances.

Despite his uninspiring major league resume, De Jong has pitched well since signing a minor league deal with Pittsburgh in January. Over four starts for Triple-A Indianapolis, the 27-year-old has worked to a 3.60 ERA across 20 innings, striking out a very strong 33.7% of opponents while walking an average 9.6%. It’s a small sample to be sure, but De Jong is punching out hitters much more often in 2021 than he has in any other Triple-A campaign, so the front office will give him an opportunity to try to carry over that success to the big leagues.

Vargas loses his roster spot less than two weeks after the Pirates claimed him off waivers from the Cubs. He’s picked up 37 plate appearances between Chicago and Pittsburgh this year and has hit just .239/.272/.368 in parts of five MLB seasons. The Pirates will have a week to trade Vargas or expose him to waivers. Having previously been outrighted in his career, the 29-year-old would have the right to reject a minor league assignment in lieu of free agency if he clears outright waivers.

Ka'ai Tom Reinstated From Injured List

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  • The Pirates reinstated Ka’ai Tom from the injured list today, per the team. He will serve as the 27th man for today’s doubleheader. Tom began the season as a Rule 5 draft pick on the A’s, and as a waiver claim, he maintains that designation with the Pirates. Thus, the Pirates will need to add him to the active roster tomorrow in order to keep him in the organization.

Minor MLB Transactions: 5/22/21

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The latest minor moves from around baseball…

  • The Pirates outrighted Troy Stokes Jr. to Triple-A Indianapolis after the outfielder cleared waivers.  Stokes was designated for assignment earlier this week, and this is the second time Stokes has been DFA’ed/outrighted since first joining the Bucs on a waiver claim back in January.  Stokes made his MLB debut this season, appearing in eight games with Pittsburgh and posting a .367 OPS in his first 20 plate appearances in the Show.

Felipe Vazquez Convicted On Fifteen Sexual Assault Counts In Pennsylvania

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A Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania jury has convicted Felipe Vázquez on fifteen counts stemming from a sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl, Rich Cholodofsky of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Chris Hoffman of CBS Pittsburgh were among those to report. Specifically, Vázquez was found guilty on ten counts of sexual abuse of children, two counts of unlawful contact with a minor, one count of statutory sexual assault, one count of corruption of a minor, and one count of indecent assault of someone under 16 years old. He will be sentenced in approximately three months and faces a potential decades-long prison term and/or possible deportation to his native Venezuela. Vázquez was acquitted on ten counts of unlawful contact or communication with a minor.

Vázquez was arrested in September 2019 after it was revealed he’d begun a sexual relationship with the underaged girl in 2017. The victim moved to Florida in 2018, where Vázquez allegedly continued to have sex with her. A Florida-based prosecution related to those allegations is still pending, Cholodofsky notes, as is a Missouri child pornography case based on sexually implicit images Vázquez allegedly received from the victim while he was in St. Louis in 2019.

The Pirates placed Vázquez on the restricted list in the immediate aftermath of his arrest. The guaranteed portion of his contract expires at the end of the 2021 season.

Pirates Trade Sean Poppen To Rays

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The Rays announced Tuesday that they’ve acquired right-hander Sean Poppen from the Pirates in exchange for cash. Pittsburgh had recently designated Poppen for assignment. Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster is now full.

Poppen has been optioned to Triple-A Durham for the time being but could see some action in the big leagues with his new club before long, given the regularity with which the Rays have shuffle up their pitching mix in recent seasons.

The 27-year-old Poppen has seen time in the Majors in each of the past three seasons (2019-20 with Minnesota, 2021 with Pittsburgh) but hasn’t found much in the way of success. He’s tallied 20 2/3 innings in the bigs but yielded 18 runs (15 earned) on 30 hits and 11 walks with 23 strikeouts. Poppen’s sinker averages 94.4 mph and has resulted in a solid 46.8 percent ground-ball in his limited big league action. He pairs the pitch with a slider and a seldom-used changeup, but none of the three offerings has been particularly effective against MLB opponents.

Poppen has had more success in the minors, where he sports a 3.39 ERA and a strikeout per inning in parts of five professional seasons — mostly as a starting pitcher. All 13 of his MLB appearances to date have come out of the bullpen, but it’s possible the Rays could look to stretch him back out, either as a multi-inning reliever or as a true depth option for the rotation. The Harvard product is a former 19th-round pick who has never been considered to be one of his organization’s top products, but he carries a respectable 3.88 ERA in 65 Triple-A innings.

Pirates Claim Ildemaro Vargas, Designate Troy Stokes Jr.

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The Pirates have claimed infielder Ildemaro Vargas off waivers from the Cubs.  Outfielder Troy Stokes Jr. has been designated for assignment to create room for Vargas on Pittsburgh’s active roster.

Chicago DFA’ed Vargas on Saturday, after the 29-year-old hit .143/.250/.238 over 24 plate appearances this season.  Vargas came to the Cubs via a waiver claim off the Diamondbacks roster last September, and this is the second time he has been designated for assignment by the team — Vargas cleared waivers in April and was outrighted to the Cubs’ alternate training site.

This time, however, Vargas found a home with a new team, joining a Pirates squad in search of depth.  With Ke’Bryan Hayes, Colin Moran, and Phillip Evans all on the injured list, Vargas can add some versatility to the bench.  Vargas has mostly played second base over his five MLB seasons, but he has experience all over the infield, and has also made a couple of appearances as a corner outfielder.  This multi-positional flexibility has been Vargas’ calling card rather than his bat, since he has hit only .246/.280/.380 in 322 career PA with the D’Backs, Twins, and Cubs.

Stokes also joined the Pirates through the waiver wire, as the Bucs claimed the outfielder off the Tigers’ roster back in January.  Like Vargas, Stokes already has one DFA under his belt in 2021, as the Pirates designated and outrighted Stokes not long after acquiring him from Detroit.  Originally a fourth-round pick for the Brewers back in 2014, Stokes made his Major League debut this season, hitting .111/.200/.167 in 20 PA over eight games with Pittsburgh.

Pirates Notes: Stallings, Hayes, Moran, Polanco, Keller

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Pirates catcher Jacob Stallings left this afternoon’s game against the Giants in the seventh inning after being struck by a Buster Posey foul tip. The Pirates announced he’s dealing with a left quad contusion (via Mike Persak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). He was replaced by Michael Pérez. Stallings has rather quietly gotten off to a very good start to the season, hitting .257/.370/.446 over his first 119 plate appearances. Stallings and Pérez are the only backstops on Pittsburgh’s 40-man, so the team would need to make a roster move if the 31-year-old is forced to miss time. The Pirates have a pair of former big leaguers, Andrew Susac and Joe Hudson, splitting time at the position with Triple-A Indianapolis.

More out of Pittsburgh:

  • The organization is hopeful third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes will be ready to embark on a minor league rehab assignment within the next several days, general manager Ben Cherington said on 93.7 FM The Fan (h/t to Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review). One of the sport’s top prospects and a popular preseason pick to win the NL Rookie of the Year Award, Hayes has been limited to seven plate appearances this season by a wrist injury. He isn’t eligible to return from the 60-day IL until June 3. The 24-year-old got off to an incredible start to his big league career last season, hitting .376/.442/.682 over his first 95 plate appearances.
  • Cherington also noted that there’s some hope each of Colin Moran and Phillip Evans can return from the injured list without needing to embark on rehab assignments (via Gorman). Moran went down last week with a left groin injury, halting a strong .297/.352/.468 start to the year. Evans began the season blistering hot but quickly cooled off. He went on the shelf earlier this week with a hamstring strain.
  • Corner outfielder Gregory Polanco and starter Mitch Keller will continue to get opportunities despite disappointing starts to the season, writes Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic. Coming off back-to-back down years, Polanco has managed just a .206/.284/.351 line over 109 plate appearances to start 2021. Those struggles make it highly unlikely the Pirates will wind up exercising their $12.5MM option on Polanco for next season, and it’s difficult to imagine the rebuilding club will find much of a market for him at the trade deadline. Nevertheless, Cherington pointed to Polanco’s somewhat promising batted ball metrics (including an 80th percentile hard hit rate) as reason for continuing to hope for a bounce back. Keller has been up and down over his first three MLB seasons, but it’s not particularly surprising the Pirates plan to give the 25-year-old time to work through his struggles given his prospect pedigree and mid-90’s velocity.
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