Cam Sanders

The Pirates are selecting right-hander Cam Sanders, according to a report from Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register. Alex Stumpf of MLB.com confirms that report, adding that right-hander Johan Oviedo is set to be optioned to the minors to make room for Sanders on the active roster. The Pirates have multiple 40-man roster vacancies, so no additional corresponding transaction will be necessary.

Sanders, 28, was a 12th-round pick by the Cubs back in 2018. He’s spent the past four seasons bouncing between the Double- and Triple-A levels with the Cubs and Pirates. He’s typically posted excellent numbers at Double-A and poor numbers at Triple-A and ultimately converted from starting to relief work with the Cubs last year. Now in the Pirates organization after electing minor league free agency over the winter, he’s looked utterly dominant in the upper minors with a 1.90 ERA in 18 appearances at Double-A to go with a nearly identical 1.93 ERA in 15 appearances at the Triple-A level.

Between the two levels, Sanders has punched out 30.5% of his opponents in 42 1/3 innings of work this year. Walks have been a problem for Sanders in the past, as he surrendered free passes at an unplayable 22.4% clip at Triple-A last year. He’s kept them under control this year, however, with a 12.0% walk rate overall that drops to just 9.7% when looking only at Triple-A. Sanders will need to continue throwing strikes if he’s to survive in the majors, but the quality of his stuff gives him possible late-inning upside if he can continue to show even passable command. He’ll now join a relief corps that recently lost closer David Bednar at this year’s trade deadline and will vie for work with the likes of Dauri Moreta, Kyle Nicolas, and Yohan Ramirez.

As for Oviedo, the right-hander made his first big league appearance since 2023 yesterday in a start against the Giants but surrendered two runs in one inning of work after walking three and striking out three. Acquired from the Cardinals in the Jose Quintana trade back in 2022, Oviedo posted a solid 4.31 ERA in 31 starts for the Pirates the following year and looked like a viable #4 starter of the future for the club before being sidelined by Tommy John surgery. He has a 3.12 ERA in six rehab starts in the minor leagues this year, but judging off yesterday’s difficult return he may need some more time to build up before returning to the majors in a more permanent role. The Pirates have Paul Skenes, Mitch Keller, Andrew Heaney, and Mike Burrows holding things down at the big league level in rotation for the time being.