John Bormann

The Pirates have outrighted catcher John Bormann, per a club announcement (h/t John Dreker of PiratesProspects.com). That leaves Pittsburgh with a pair of open 40-man spots.

Bormann, 24, received his first MLB call-up recently when the organization had a sudden need for a backstop. He did get a single plate appearance, though he struck out. Of course, Bormann wasn’t expected to see the majors anywhere near so soon as this. He has only just reached the High-A level and had struggled there in the early going.

Pittsburgh already moved earlier this week to install a more viable replacement, recalling Elias Diaz. The club is carrying three catchers while waiting for Francisco Cervelli to return to health.

Sunday’s minor moves:

• Pirates catcher John Bormann is going from Single-A to the majors. The Pirates have selected Bormann’s contract and optioned outfielder Danny Ortiz to Triple-A, per a team announcement. Bormann, whom the Bucs chose in Round 24 of the 2015 draft, has hit just .232/.282/.310 in 328 low-minors plate appearances since joining the Pittsburgh organization. His promotion might be an indicator of health troubles with starting catcher Francisco Cervelli, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests (on Twitter). It’s unclear what could be wrong with Cervelli – although he’s off Sunday, he caught the Pirates’ previous five games and has appeared in 22 of 23 contests this season. Cervelli previously missed a large chunk of 2016 with a broken hamate bone in his left hand.