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Pirates Designate Joshua Palacios, Option Henry Davis

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The Pirates have announced a number of roster moves, which were first reported by Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. The club has selected the contract of right-hander Hunter Stratton, and in a corresponding move designated outfielder Joshua Palacios for assignment. The club has also optioned catcher Henry Davis, infielder Nick Yorke, and outfielder Billy Cook to Triple-A.

Stratton, 28, was non-tendered by the Pirates back in November but signed a minor league deal with the club not long afterwards. Now, he’s set to suit up for his third season in Pittsburgh after posting solid numbers with the club out of the bullpen last year. In 49 2/3 innings of work during his MLB career, Stratton has posted a 3.26 ERA with a 3.61 FIP, striking out 21% of his opponents while walking just 4.9%. That impressive command seems to have been enough to earn the right-hander a spot in the big league bullpen to open the 2025 season, though the righty does have options remaining so he could at least theoretically be squeezed off the roster and sent to Triple-A in favor of another arm.

Making room for Stratton on the 40-man is Palacios, a fourth-round pick by the Blue Jays back in 2016. He made his debut with Toronto in 2021 but made it into just 13 games with the club before being claimed off waivers by the Nationals the following year. He appeared in 29 games for D.C. but was eventually outrighted off the club’s 40-man roster only to be plucked out of the minor league phase of the Rule 5 Draft by the Pirates later that year. Making his Pirates debut in 2023, Palacios got his first significant big league opportunity but was unable to do much with it, hitting a lackluster .239/.279/.413 in 91 games for the Pirates where he split time between all three outfield spots.

Palacios ended up appearing in just 23 games for Pittsburgh last year, and though they carried him on their 40-man roster throughout the offseason he appears to have been squeezed off the club’s roster by Jack Suwinski. The Pirates will now have one week to either trade Palacios or place him on waivers, where he can be claimed by any club. As a career .230/.286/.364 (75 wRC+) hitter with no options remaining, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Palacios pass through waivers successfully. If he does so, he’ll have the opportunity to reject an outright assignment and test free agency.

As for the options, Davis is the most notable name. Things haven’t gone well for the 25-year-old since he was selected first overall in the 2021 draft, as to this point in his big league career he’s hit just .191/.283/.307 in 99 big league games while struggling defensively both in the outfield and behind the plate. For the time being the Pirates appear committed to Davis’s development as a catcher, and he’ll now continue to wait for an opportunity at Triple-A as the club relies on a tandem of Joey Bart and Endy Rodriguez at the dish to open the 2025 campaign.

Looking beyond Davis, Nick Yorke has remained in camp as a possible alternative to Nick Gonzales at second base, though Gonzales has always appeared to be the favorite for the job after the former seventh-overall pick’s solid .270/.311/.398 showing in 94 games for the Pirates last year. Cook, meanwhile was in the competition to fill in for Spencer Horwitz at first base while Horwitz rehabs wrist surgery he underwent last month, though that job now appears likely to go to non-roster invitee DJ Stewart after the 31-year-old slashed a solid .270/.357/.486 in 17 games this spring.

Pirates’ Spencer Horwitz Out Six To Eight Weeks Following Wrist Surgery

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February 12: Horwitz’s surgery was to address “chronic symptoms,” the Pirates announced (as relayed by Hiles). The expected timeline for recovery is six to eight weeks, confirming that Horwitz will miss at least some time to start the season.

February 11: Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz will miss time in Spring Training because of a right wrist injury, report Andrew Destin and Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. While specifics on the injury are unclear, Destin and Hiles write that Horwitz underwent surgery at some point and remains in a cast.

It’s an alarming start for the Bucs as camp gets underway. Pittsburgh acquired the 27-year-old Horwitz at the Winter Meetings in what amounted to a de facto three-team trade involving the Blue Jays and Guardians. They sent back-end starter Luis Ortiz and a pair of pitching prospects to Cleveland for Horwitz, whom the Guards had acquired from Toronto hours before in the Andrés Giménez deal.

Without a timetable on the injury, it’s possible he’ll still be available on Opening Day. Yet it’s clearly not an ideal beginning to his Bucs tenure. Horwitz is the favorite for the first base job once he’s healthy. The Pirates are betting on his minor league numbers and relatively small-sample production in the big leagues. Horwitz had an impressive .265/.357/.433 showing across 381 MLB plate appearances last year. He connected on 12 homers while showing strong strike zone awareness. The lefty hitter walked at an 11% clip while striking out just 18.4% of the time.

Plate discipline has been Horwitz’s calling card throughout his career. He has posted excellent minor league numbers, including a .316/.433/.471 slash over parts of three Triple-A seasons. The statistical profile is robust, but most scouting reports have been less bullish on Horwitz’s bat translating against big league pitching over the long haul. He’s a middling defender who fits best at first base, though he logged nearly 300 innings at second base for Toronto last season. There’s a lot of pressure on the bat if he’s to be an average or better regular at first base. Horwitz doesn’t have huge raw power. Last year’s 16 combined homers between Triple-A and MLB represented a career high.

Pittsburgh got very little offense from the position last season. Their first basemen hit .230/.295/.380, landing in the bottom third of MLB in all three categories. That was almost entirely on the Rowdy Tellez/Connor Joe platoon. The Bucs parted ways with both players. Aside from Horwitz, they haven’t made any notable additions there.

Should Horwitz begin the season on the injured list, 26-year-old Billy Cook is probably the top in-house option. He hit .224 with 19 strikeouts and zero walks in his first 16 major league games late last season. The righty-hitting Cook posted a solid .275/.375/.474 showing in the upper minors between the Baltimore and Pittsburgh systems. Baseball America ranked Cook the #12 prospect in the Bucs system this winter, writing that he has decent power and athleticism but concerns about his pure hitting ability.

The Pirates already planned to get Bryan Reynolds work at first base this spring. That could take on added urgency now, though it’s unlikely that the Bucs would move him to the position on an everyday basis. Pittsburgh got almost nothing out of their right fielders last season. They’ve agreed to terms with Tommy Pham on a $4MM deal to raise the floor at that position, but the outfield would again become a significant concern if Reynolds moved to first base.

There are a few unsigned first basemen who are still available. Justin Turner and Anthony Rizzo seem likely to secure big league deals. Mark Canha might get an MLB contract as well, while Yuli Gurriel and José Abreu are potential minor league options. Whether the Bucs expect Horwitz to miss time in the regular season could impact their decision to potentially bring in a veteran on at least a minor league contract. Former Phillies first baseman Darick Hall will be in camp as a non-roster invitee. Tomorrow is report day for pitchers and catchers, so the team may provide an update on Horwitz’s injury in the coming days.

Pirates Select Billy Cook; Place Henry Davis On 10-Day Injured List

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The Pirates announced today that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Billy Cook. In a corresponding move, catcher Henry Davis was placed on the 10-day injured list with inflammation in his left hand. The club’s 40-man roster now stands at 39. Additionally, the club announced that right-hander Domingo German has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A.

Cook, 25, was a tenth-round pick by the Orioles in the 2021 draft. Cook was a relatively fast riser with the Orioles and made it to Triple-A earlier this year. The outfielder performed admirably with a .279/.372/.485 slash line in 304 trips to the plate with the club’s affiliate in Norfolk. Cook was dealt to the Pirates in a swap on the day of the trade deadline, with Pittsburgh sending minor league right-hander Patrick Reilly to Baltimore in exchange for Cook’s services. Since joining the Pirates organization, Cook has picked up right where he left off at Triple-A Indianapolis with a .276/.389/.486 slash line in 30 games.

That’s clearly enough for the club’s brass to decide the youngster ought to be given a shot in Pittsburgh. Oneil Cruz’s recent move to center field leaves the Pirates with regular starters at each outfield position for the moment, as Cruz is flanked by Bryan Reynolds and Bryan De La Cruz in the outfield corners while Connor Joe and Michael A. Taylor both also mix in on a fairly regular basis. It’s an open question, then, whether Cook will be able to find much playing time on the club’s roster as things stand. That being said, however, Cook also has experience at both first and second base that could allow him to find more playing time. He could mix in alongside Joe and Rowdy Tellez at first base while also offering Nick Gonzales an occasional day off at the keystone.

Making room for Cook on the active roster is Davis, the first overall pick from the 2021 draft. The top prospect made his big league debut last year but has struggled to establish himself in the big leagues to this point in his career with a .191/.283/.307 slash line in 99 games across the past two seasons where he’s split time between the outfield and catcher. Now, he’s headed to the injured list for the second time this year, following up a stint on the concussion IL back in June.

This time, Davis is dealing with hand inflammation, though the severity of the issue is not yet clear. With the end of the regular season just three weeks away and the Pirates all but eliminated from playoff contention, a stint on the shelf that extends beyond the minimum ten days could spell the end of his season even if the issue isn’t especially serious. With Davis out of action, the club figures to rely on a tandem of Joey Bart and Yasmani Grandal behind the plate in the season’s final weeks.

As for German, the right-hander signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal earlier this year and made seven appearances for the club, two of which were starts. Those outings did not go especially well, however, as German was lit up for 19 runs (18 earned) in just 20 2/3 innings of work. In all, he’s posted a 7.84 ERA, 6.13 FIP, and 18% strikeout rate during his time with the big league Pirates this year. Now back in Triple-A, German figures to serve as non-roster depth for the club’s pitching staff for the remainder of the season before likely trying his luck in minor league free agency this winter.

Orioles, Pirates Swap Minor Leaguers Billy Cook And Patrick Reilly

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On a day in which both teams made several moves to augment their major league rosters, the Orioles and Pirates also connected on a minor league trade, with the O’s sending 25-year-old utility player Billy Cook to the Bucs in exchange for 22-year-old right-hander Patrick Reilly. The teams have already made the trade official, according to the transaction tracker on MiLB.com.

The Orioles drafted Cook in the 10th round of the 2021 draft, and he has risen through the ranks of the Orioles system over the past four years. In 85 games between Double and Triple-A this season, he is batting .275 with 17 doubles, four triples, and 12 home runs, good for a 120 wRC+. He has also stolen 16 bases. On the other side of the ball, Cook has played first, second, and third base, as well as all three outfield positions. Earlier this year, he told David Laurilla of FanGraphs that he thinks his skills play best in the outfield, but he understands his ability to play the infield is important, too. While Cook is not the most highly regarded prospect (MLB Pipeline had him as the No. 28 prospect in Baltimore’s system, but he was unranked by Baseball America, FanGraphs, and The Athletic entering the season), it is impressive that he has managed to carve out a regular role at Triple-A Norfolk, considering the sheer amount of young talent in the Orioles’ organization. He will need to be added to the Pirates 40-man roster after the season if the team wants to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.

The Pirates took Reilly in the fifth round of last year’s draft. He has made 19 starts at High-A this year, pitching to a 3.38 ERA and 4.65 FIP in 88 innings of work. His 108 strikeouts are particularly impressive, although his 41 walks are less than ideal. That said, he has cut down on free passes since his time at Vanderbilt, where he walked 93 batters over 144 innings. Eric Longenhagen and Travis Ice of FanGraphs ranked him as the No. 22 prospect in the Pirates’ system in June, while MLB Pipeline had him at No. 20 prior to the trade. Baseball America was higher on Reilly, ranking him at No. 8 entering the season. The evaluators at BA gave him a 45 future value grade, while MLB Pipeline and FanGraphs both gave him a 40. All three sources are high on his mid-90s fastball, but BA was equally enamored with his slider and less concerned by his control issues. The evaluators at BA also seem to be the most optimistic that Reilly can stick as a starter in the long term, writing that he “has the arm to make it work.”

While Reilly is widely considered the more promising young player, the Pirates clearly see something they like in Cook, who is much closer to making his MLB debut. Meanwhile, it’s easy to see why the Orioles, whose organization is loaded with position player talent, were happy to swap a 25-year-old hitter for a 22-year-old pitcher.

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