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NL Central Notes: Horwitz, Triolo, Moll, Díaz

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Infielder Spencer Horwitz was one of the key offseason pickups of the Pirates but they haven’t gotten anything out of him yet. He underwent wrist surgery in February, a procedure which came with a return timeline of six to eight weeks.

Tomorrow, it will be nine weeks since that timeline was provided and Horwitz is still on the injured list. He also hasn’t started a rehab assignment. There is at least some positive momentum, however, as Horwitz took batting practice at PNC Park today with his teammates. Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review relayed some video of Horwitz taking his hacks.

That’s somewhat encouraging but Horwitz is probably still not close to joining the big league club. He missed all of spring training and will surely need a few weeks of game action once he does start a rehab assignment. He has a .264/.355/.428 career batting line, which would be a tremendous boost to the Pittsburgh lineup. The team is hitting .184/.273/.290 as a whole so far this year, leading to a league-worst 61 wRC+.

Horwitz was supposed to be the club’s regular first baseman but most of the playing time at that spot has gone to catcher Endy Rodríguez, who is hitting .178/.260/.244. Whenever Horwitz can come off the IL, that should allow Rodriguez to move his focus back to catching, where his defense is considered strong.

Some more notes from around the division…

  • Sticking with the Pirates, infielder Jared Triolo is going to start a rehab assignment, per Gorman. He was serving a utility role until he landed on the IL with a lower back injury last week. Once he’s healthy, he can resume bouncing around to multiple positions, though he may not help much on offense. He has hit just .236/.319/.333 in his big league career, which includes a rough .059/.111/.059 showing in six games to start the 2025 season. Tsung-Che Cheng was brought up when Triolo hit the IL but he still hasn’t reached based in his first seven plate appearances. Enmanuel Valdéz is also doing some utility work but is hitting .148/.207/.296 on the season.
  • Turning to the Reds, they put left-hander Sam Moll on the 15-day injured list with a left shoulder impingement today, even though they’re not playing. The move was backdated by three days, the maximum allowed, to April 11. That perhaps suggests they don’t expect a lengthy absence, as they are making the move today so that he can return one day earlier than if they had waited until tomorrow. No corresponding move was announced but Mark Sheldon of MLB.com suggests it will likely be right-hander Alexis Díaz being reinstated from the IL. Díaz started the season on the IL with a left hamstring strain. He recently started a rehab assignment and already has five minor league appearances in the books. Díaz has served as the Reds’ closer for much of the past three years but his strikeout rate has been declining, from 32.5% in 2022 to 30.1% in 2023 and just 22.7% last year. Emilio Pagán has four saves so far this year and could be bumped into a setup role if Díaz is given the closing duties again.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Pirates Call Up Henry Davis From Triple-A

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5:01pm: The Pirates announced this evening that right-hander Chase Shugart was optioned to Triple-A to make room for Davis on the club’s roster. That will leave Pittsburgh to carry three catchers on the big league roster for the time being, with Davis joining Bart and Rodriguez.

10:41am: The Pirates are calling catcher Henry Davis up from Triple-A Indianapolis, MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf reports.  No corresponding move is yet known, though Davis’ arrival is likely related to Joey Bart leaving yesterday’s game due to lower back discomfort.

Bart was the starting catcher in Pittsburgh’s 5-3 loss to the Reds, but he was replaced in the field prior to the bottom of the second inning.  The Pirates described Bart’s status as day-to-day, yet having Davis on hand is a wise move even in the short term, so the team wouldn’t be entirely shorthanded behind the plate if backup catcher Endy Rodriguez also picked up an injury.  More will be known later today on Bart’s status, and whether or not he might be headed to the 10-day injured list.

In any case, the situation has led to another big-league look for Davis, the first overall pick of the 2021 draft.  Heralded for his batting ability at the University of Louisville, Davis has yet to show anything at the plate at the MLB level.  After hitting .213/.302/.351 in 255 plate appearances in his 2023 rookie season, Davis had only a .144/.242/.212 slash line in 122 PA last year.  His 2024 campaign was also marred by a pair of IL stints — one on the concussion-related injured list, and another due to hand inflammation.

Davis’ development has taken a few twists and turns, chiefly due to the Bucs’ experiment with Davis as an outfielder, as the team looked for ways to fit both Davis and another top catching prospect in Rodriguez into the lineup at the same time.  This long-term view hit some immediate roadblocks, however, as Rodriguez missed the entire 2024 season due to UCL surgery, plus Bart (also a former top prospect during his time with the Giants) also broke out with solid numbers last year to claim the starting catching job.

The Pirates have now recommitted Davis to a catching-only path, while Rodriguez has seen a good chunk of action at first base in addition to serving as Bart’s backup this season.  Perhaps regardless of how the fielding situation might develop, Davis isn’t going to stick in the Show unless he can hit, and it is still far too early to write Davis off at age 25.  His minor league numbers also hint at the potential, as Davis has a .316/.417/.548 slash line and 15 homers over 346 career PA at the Triple-A level.

Octavio Dotel Dies In Roof Collapse Tragedy

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Former major leaguer Octavio Dotel has died in a tragic accident, Major League Baseball confirmed. The news was first reported by multiple outlets in the Dominican Republic, including Diario Libre. The roof of the Jet Set club in Santo Domingo collapsed in the early hours of Tuesday morning. As of Tuesday night, at least 98 people have lost their lives while nearly 200 more were injured, according to The Associated Press. Dotel was 51 years old.

Exact details of the tragic situation are difficult to pin down, but it appears hundreds of people were in the venue for a concert when the collapse happened. Dozens of people have been pulled out alive but many have died and the figures are likely to change. Dotel was reportedly trapped for about 11 hours before being rescued and initially survived, but was declared dead after being taken to a hospital.

Dotel was well known to baseball fans because he pitched in the majors for over a decade and bounced around to various teams. He made his major league debut with the Mets in 1999, working in a swing role. He was traded to the Astros ahead of the 2000 season and continued to work both out of the rotation and the bullpen for a while.

He eventually moved into a primary relief role and had more success. Though his earned run average was over 5.00 in both 1999 and 2000, he posted a 2.66 ERA in 2001. He tossed 105 innings over 61 appearances, only four of those being starts.

He continued working as a solid reliever for years after that, bouncing to the Athletics, Yankees, Royals, Braves, White Sox, Pirates, Dodgers, Rockies, Blue Jays, Cardinals and Tigers. He finished his career with a 3.78 ERA in 758 games. He recorded 109 saves and 127 holds. He won the World Series with the Cardinals in 2011. He was a part of a combined no-hitter with the Astros in 2003. He retired in 2014.

We at MLB Trade Rumors send our deepest condolences to Dotel’s family, friends and fans, as well as the hundreds of others who have been impacted by this awful event.

Photo courtesy of Kelley L Cox, Imagn Images

Pirates Promote Tsung-Che Cheng

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3:45pm: The Pirates have now made these moves official. Triolo’s injury was described as a lumbar spine strain.

1:25pm: The Pirates are going to promote infielder Tsung-Che Cheng to the majors, reports Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. He is already on the 40-man roster but will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Fellow infielder Jared Triolo will head to the 10-day injured list due to a lower back injury.

Cheng, 23, was an international signing out of Taiwan in 2019. His profile has a solid foundation from his speed and defense. Offensively, his approach has been leaned more to the contact-oriented side without too much power. Baseball America currently ranks him as the #19 prospect in the Pirates’ system.

He has appeared in 402 minor league games across various levels thus far in his career, with 1,684 trips to the plate. His 12.5% walk rate and 19.8% strikeout rate are both better than average, with 34 home runs in that time. Overall, he has hit .260/.359/.411 for a 117 wRC+. He has racked up double-digits steals in each year of his career. Lately, Cheng hit .353/.400/.647 in spring training but then .071/.133/.071 in five games for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Defensively, Cheng has primarily played shortstop but has also taken notable playing time at second base and occasional stints at third. He seems likely to take over Triolo’s utility role. The Bucs have had Isiah Kiner-Falefa at short, Ke’Bryan Hayes at third and Adam Frazier at second on most days but with players like Triolo, Enmanuel Valdéz and Endy Rodríguez also factoring into the infield mix. Triolo was a late scratch from yesterday’s contest due to back soreness and will now get a chance to heal up while Cheng helps fill in the gap.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Pirates Place Colin Holderman On 15-Day Injured List

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The Pirates announced that right-hander Colin Holderman has been placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right knee sprain.  Righty Chase Shugart has been called up from Triple-A in the corresponding move.

The nature or severity of Holderman’s knee issue isn’t known, but if he has been trying to pitch through discomfort, that might explain his unimpressive numbers to date this season.  After giving up a run in an inning of work in yesterday’s 10-4 Pirates loss to the Yankees, Holderman’s ERA stands at an ungainly 9.64 over 4 2/3 frames, and he also has a 16% walk rate.

Naturally, this is a pretty small sample size to gauge a pitcher who has been a reliable bullpen arm for the Bucs over the previous two seasons.  Holderman posted a 3.52 ERA, 24.6% strikeout rate, and 9.7% walk rate over 107 1/3 innings in 2023-24, though his walk and barrel rates spiked considerably from 2023 to 2024.  Holderman’s impressive 52.8% grounder rate in 2023 also dropped to 37.5% last year.

With Holderman on the IL and struggling closer David Bednar optioned to Triple-A, Pittsburgh is already without two key members of its late-inning mix.  Dennis Santana now looks like the prime candidate for saves or highest-leverage work of any kind, while Justin Lawrence and Caleb Ferguson will factor into the late-inning workload as well.  Shugart will also get his first MLB look with his new team, as the Pirates only just acquired Shugart in a trade with the Red Sox back in January.

Bryan Reynolds Limited To DH While Battling Triceps Soreness

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  • Bryan Reynolds has been limited to DH duty over the Pirates’ last four games, as the right fielder’s throwing ability has been hampered by right triceps soreness.  There isn’t any indication that Reynolds will need an IL stint since he’s still able to hit, though Reynolds has slashed only .194/.237/.306 in his first 38 PA of the season.  With Reynolds now in the designated hitter spot, regular DH Andrew McCutchen will be getting some more action in the outfield, after appearing in only 13 games as an outfielder over the previous two seasons.  McCutchen welcomed the return to the grass and praised Reynolds’ toughness, telling MLB.com’s Alex Stumpf that “it shows the character of him and what he brings to the team. A lot of people would say, ’Give me an IL stint and I’ll come back.’ He’s still capable and able to swing it….Unfortunately, he’s not 100 percent already in the season, but he’s going to do his job, and we’re going to do our best to support that and not make him feel like he has to rush back.”

Braves Acquire Jason Delay

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The Pirates and Braves announced a trade sending catcher Jason Delay to Atlanta for cash. Pittsburgh had designated him for assignment on Tuesday. Atlanta optioned Delay to Double-A Columbus and transferred Reynaldo López to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Pittsburgh also optioned infielder Ji-Hwan Bae to Triple-A Indianapolis to make room on the active roster for Alexander Canario, who has reported to the team.

Delay had been with the Pirates since they drafted him in the fourth round in 2017. The Vanderbilt product cracked the big league roster for the first time in 2022. He worked as Pittsburgh’s backup catcher for good chunks of the 2022-23 seasons, combining for 127 MLB appearances. He only got into seven big league games last year and had been in Triple-A to begin this year.

The 30-year-old Delay owns a .231/.295/.315 batting line with two home runs across 373 career plate appearances. He’s a .239/.310/.338 hitter over parts of seven minor league seasons. Delay isn’t going to provide much offensively, but he has slightly above-average pitch framing grades and a strong reputation for his work with pitching staffs. He has yet to qualify for arbitration and has a couple minor league options remaining, so the Braves add him for minimal cost.

Delay is the fourth catcher on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. Drake Baldwin and Chadwick Tromp are dividing the MLB playing time while Sean Murphy is on the injured list. Murphy is at Triple-A Gwinnett on a rehab stint after breaking a rib early in Spring Training. He could return from the IL by the end of next week. Baldwin, one of the sport’s top catching prospects, will probably be optioned back to Gwinnett at that point. If they want to keep Baldwin on the MLB roster, they’d need to designate the out-of-options Tromp for assignment.

The Braves essentially had a free 40-man spot because of the López injury. The righty was placed on the 15-day IL earlier this week with shoulder inflammation. The Braves announced that he’ll undergo an arthroscopic procedure to confirm there’s no structural damage. Even in the best case scenario, he didn’t have much chance of coming back within the next two months. He’s officially out until at least the end of May but seems unlikely to return until the second half of the season at the earliest.

Pirates Option David Bednar

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The Pirates announced that they have optioned right-hander David Bednar to Triple-A Indianapolis and designated catcher Jason Delay for assignment. Those are the corresponding moves to add pitching prospect Thomas Harrington, a move which was reported earlier today.

The move highlights what a recent struggle it’s been for Bednar, who was once one of the most dominant closers in the league. From 2021 to 2023, he made 172 appearances for the Pirates. He had a 2.25 earned run average, 31.2% strikeout rate and 7.7% walk rate. He gradually took over the ninth inning in Pittsburgh in that time, with three saves in 2021, 19 the year after and then 39 in 2023.

That production would have been exciting for any club but it was enhanced by the “local kid makes good” angle. Bednar was born in Pittsburgh, went to Mars Area High School and attended Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. He was drafted by the Padres but made his way to his hometown club in January of 2021, just before his breakout, as part of the three-team trade that sent Joe Musgrove to San Diego.

But he’s been on a downward slide since then. He posted a 5.77 ERA for the Bucs last year. His strikeout rate fell to 22.1% and his walk rate climbed to 10.7%. He lost the closer’s role for the final month of the season.

His first three appearances in 2025 have gone poorly. On Opening Day against the Marlins, he was put into the bottom of the 9th in a 4-4 game. He allowed a triple, issued an intentional walk and then allowed a walk-off single. He got another chance the next day, getting the ninth with the Bucs up 4-1. A walk and a homer quickly made it 4-3, though Bednar then got three outs to record the save. On Sunday, he was again put into tie game in the ninth. A single, stolen base, throwing error and wild pitch quickly led to another loss.

It’s a frustrating mystery for Bednar and the Pirates, as his stuff doesn’t seem to have lost any zip. He averaged 96.6 miles per hour on his fastball in 2023 with opponents batting .188 and slugging .315 against it. Last year, his velo actually ticked up to 97.2 mph but the pitch allowed a .256 batting average and .459 slug. His splitter and curve didn’t seem to lose any velo either.

Bednar and the team have presumably been trying to find an explanation for his struggles without coming up with a clear solution, so the Bucs have taken the step of sending him to Indianapolis, perhaps with the idea of him having a chance to get into a good groove away from the pressures of the big leagues. In Bednar’s stead, the closing duties will perhaps fall to someone like Colin Holderman or Dennis Santana.

The move isn’t likely to impact Bednar’s trajectory to free agency. He came into this season with his service clock at four years and 76 days. That’s 96 days shy of the five-year mark and he’s already added five more days this year. That means he needs about three more months in the majors to get over that line. Assuming he gets beyond five years at some point here in 2025, he would have just one season of club control remaining.

If he stays down for longer than that, the Bucs could theoretically gain another year. But in that scenario, he likely didn’t pitch well in the minors, meaning they probably wouldn’t tender him an arbitration contract since he is making $5.9MM this year. The arbitration system is set up so that salaries almost never go down, even with poor performance.

It will surely lead to plenty of “what-if” questions. The Bucs haven’t been competitive for most of the recent past, so Bednar’s name came in a trade rumors from time to time. The Pirates never clicked on any deal. In hindsight, plenty will say that they should have taken whatever offers were on the table, but it’s hard to fathom anyone foreseeing this quick downfall.

Delay, 30, has seen a decent amount of time as Pittsburgh’s backup catcher in recent years. From 2022 to 2024, he hit .231/.295/.315 in 134 games with solid glovework. However, the catching depth for the club has become more crowded. Endy Rodríguez missed all of 2024 recovering from UCL surgery but is now back. While he was gone, the club took a flier on Joey Bart and saw him break out. Between those two and former first overall pick Henry Davis, Delay was likely fourth on the depth chart.

The Bucs will now have a maximum of one week of DFA limbo to figure out what’s next. The waiver process takes 48 hours so any trade possibilities would have to come together in the next five days. Delay still has options and hasn’t yet reached arbitration, so he could be an affordable depth addition for a club looking to bolster its catching corps.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Pirates To Select Thomas Harrington

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The Pirates are poised to promote right-hander Thomas Harrington to the majors for today’s start against the Rays in Tampa, according to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Harrington is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the club will need to make a corresponding move to open up a spot for Harrington before he can officially be selected.

Harrington, 23, was a first-round pick by the Pirates in the 2022 draft. He was the 36th selection in the draft, the Pirates’ second pick after infielder Termarr Johnson went number four overall. After he posted an impressive 2.53 ERA and 30% strikeout rate in 15 starts for Campbell during his draft year, the Pirates held off on putting Harrington in pro games until 2023. He more or less picked up right where he left off despite the layoff with a 2.77 ERA and 26.7% strikeout rate in eight starts at the Single-A level. That got him a quick promotion to High-A, where he faced a bit more adversity but still managed a solid 3.87 ERA in 127 1/3 innings across 18 starts while punching out 28.2% of his opponents.

The right-hander built on that solid first season as a pro with a dominant one in 2024. Though a rotator cuff injury cost him some of his 2024 campaign, Harrington made the most of his opportunities when he was healthy enough to take the mound, with an incredible 2.24 ERA and a 27.4% strikeout rate in 68 1/3 innings of work at the Double-A level. That earned him a promotion to Triple-A, where his strikeout rate dropped to just 21.2% but he nonetheless managed to post a solid 3.33 ERA across eight starts. Harrington’s breakout performance last season and success at the highest level of the minors put him on the radar for a big league debut this year, and he’s now set to get that opportunity later today.

The righty’s strong performance in 2024 was also enough to make him a consensus top-100 prospect, rated as the #74 prospect in the sport by Baseball America and #79 by MLB Pipeline at the outset of the 2025 season. He’s since moved up a spot on both lists following the graduation of Nationals outfielder Dylan Crews yesterday. Harrington features a deep pitch mix headlined by a fastball that tops out at 95mph and an above-average slider, though he also features a cutter and curveball, both of which grade out as roughly average. The main selling point of Harrington’s overall package is pinpoint control, however; he walked just eight batters in 46 innings at Triple-A last year and has a tidy 6.1% walk rate across all levels of the minors.

When Jared Jones went on the injured list to open the season, Harrington was in the mix for the fifth starter job with the Pirates but ultimately lost out to right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski, a former first-round pick in his own right with a 2.91 ERA in 86 1/3 career innings at the big league level entering the 2025 season. With that being said, it still did not take long for Harrington’s call to the big leagues to occur. It’s unclear whether today’s appearance will strictly be a spot start for the youngster or a more significant opportunity, though it should be noted that Mlodzinski surrendered four runs on seven hits and two walks in 3 2/3 innings of work during his first start of the season last night.

That’s the sort of performance that could, at least in theory, open the door for Harrington to claim a rotation spot with a dominant outing. As a consensus top-100 prospect called up in the early days of the season, Harrington would be eligible to earn the Pirates a prospect promotion incentive draft pick if he sticks on the active roster for the rest of the 2025 campaign. Harrington would need to win the NL Rookie of the Year award or finish in the top three of NL Cy Young award (or MVP) voting during his pre-arbitration years in order to bring back a PPI pick for Pittsburgh.

Rotation depth is perhaps the biggest strength of the Pirates’ roster. An on-paper starting five of Paul Skenes, Jones, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Bailey Falter is already one of the most solid rotations in the National League, and the presence of youngsters like Harrington, Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft, and star pitching prospect Bubba Chandler serve to lengthen out the club’s depth chart significantly. That rotation depth is robust enough that the Pirates felt comfortable trading a controllable young arm in Luis Ortiz even after a season where he posted a 3.32 ERA in 137 2/3 innings of work. That trade netted the Pirates a comparably controllable young hitter in Spencer Horwitz, who opened the season on the injured list due to wrist surgery but figures to settle in as the club’s everyday first baseman once healthy.

Joshua Palacios Elects Free Agency

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Outfielder Joshua Palacios elected minor league free agency after being outrighted by the Pirates, according to the MLB.com transaction log. Pittsburgh had designated him for assignment during the final week of Spring Training. Palacios cleared outright waivers for the second time in his career, which gave him the right to choose free agency instead of accepting a minor league assignment.

Palacios landed with the Bucs in the Triple-A phase of the 2022 Rule 5 draft. He made a career-high 91 appearances the following season, hitting .239/.279/.413 with 10 homers. Palacios held his 40-man roster spot throughout last season, though he spent a decent chunk of the year on optional assignment to Triple-A. He hit well in the upper minors, posting a .291/.372/.489 line with five homers over 208 plate appearances. Palacios got into 23 big league contests and hit .224 with a pair of longballs.

Originally a fourth-round pick of the Blue Jays, Palacios debuted with Toronto in 2021. He logged limited action with the Jays and Nationals before landing with the Pirates. The lefty-swinging outfielder is a career .230/.286/.364 hitter across 433 plate appearances. He has a much more impressive .303/.388/.485 slash in more than 700 trips to the plate in Triple-A.

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