Pittsburgh Pirates Claim Catcher, Former Reliever Off Waivers

The long relief spot in the Pirate bullpen is up for grabs. It will likely come down to Josh Flemming, Bailey Falter, or one of their minor league signees, as I would guess the Pirates would send a prospect or young arm like Luis Ortiz or Quinn Priester to Triple-A to get reps in as a starter, assuming they both aren't starters. One of the…

This is one in a series of comparing two Pittsburgh Pirates free agent targets this offseason. Michael Wacha and Jack Flaherty. Two names the Pittsburgh Pirates are quite familiar with. Both players had lengthy tenures with the St. Louis Cardinals. Pirates' fans may best remember Wacha - despite their best efforts to forget - from when he nearly…

The SF Giants protected a trio of pitching prospects from the Rule 5 draft by adding them to the 40-man roster. They left a couple of position players in Grant McCray and Aeverson Arteaga unprotected. How likely is it that they lose either prospect? The short answer is it is certainly possible. The Giants traded Blake Sabol after last year's Rule 5…

Here is the one of the only pitchers who led Pirate minor league starters in another rate statistic whose name isn't Braxton Ashcraft. That's fellow 2022 draft class member J.P. Massey. Massey had a lot of ups and downs during the 2023 season but overall was a promising year after coming off a rough final season in college. Massey's season started…

Game: St. Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates Date: Sunday, June 4, 2023 Location: PNC Park in Pittsburgh, PA TV: Peacock Odds/Point Spread: St. Louis (-155) Pittsburgh (+135) PNC Park is the site where the Pittsburgh Pirates (29-27) will play the St. Louis Cardinals (25-33) on Sunday. The line on this matchup has the Cardinals at -155 and the…

Free MLB Picks For Today 5/26/2023 Reds at Cubs-Hunter Greene to start for Cincinnati. Greene has ten starts in 2023 with an ERA of 4.68 and WHIP of 1.50. The righthander has an elite strikeout rate of 30.8% with 8.9% walks. Ground balls sit at 33.8% with 1.44 home runs per nine innings. Justin Steele to start for Chicago. Steele in ten starts…

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Date: Sunday, April 16, 2023 Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO TV: Bally Sports Midwest Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (+170) St. Louis (-200) The St. Louis Cardinals (6-8) will go up against the Pittsburgh Pirates (8-6) at Busch Stadium on Sunday. The line on this contest has Pittsburgh at+170…

Game: Pittsburgh Pirates vs St. Louis Cardinals Date: Thursday, April 13, 2023 Location: Busch Stadium in St. Louis, MO TV: Bally Sports Midwest Odds/Point Spread: Pittsburgh (+245) St. Louis (-295) Busch Stadium is the location where the St. Louis Cardinals (4-7) will play the Pittsburgh Pirates (7-4) on Thursday. The moneyline on this game has…

The Grapefruit League schedule is starting to wind down for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Owning a 9-14-3 record, the Pirates will travel to Publix Field in Lakeland on Friday night to play the Detroit Tigers at 6:05 PM ET. This will be Grapefruit League game 27 of 31. Roansy Contreras is slated to start for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night. This…

Entering spring training it seemed like long odds that either Dauri Moreta or Angel Perdomo would be part of the team's Opening Day bullpen. Well, things can often times change in baseball and, now, here we are. Moreta was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds for Kevin Newman in an offseason trade. The 26-year-old righty posted a 5.40 ERA, 5.80 FIP,…

The White Sox have reportedly added left-handed pitcher Ricardo Sanchez to a minor-league deal, according to MLB.com. The 26-year-old has struggled to find an MLB home since being signed by the Los Angeles Angeles as an amateur free agent in 2013. Since then, he has bounced around between six different teams. In 2015 the Angels traded Sanchez to…

One of the biggest pleasant surprises for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season was right-handed pitcher Chase De Jong. Transitioning to a full-time relief role, De Jong had the best season of his MLB career. However, he may not be a lock to be on the team's Opening Day roster. De Jong pitched 72.2 innings in 42 relief appearances with the Pirates…

For years it seemed destined that Miguel Andújar would be traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. One mock trade after another had Andújar going to the Pirates for one player or another. Well, after years of speculation he finally arrived in Pittsburgh last September. Andújar was desiganted for assignment by the New York Yankees on September 22nd. Three…

The Yankees lost a piece of their bullpen depth to a division rival. On Thursday, the Blue Jays claimed righty reliever Junior Fernandez off waivers from the Yankees. The Yankees had designated Fernandez for assignment on Dec. 21 - the same day they officially added free agent prizes Tommy Kahnle and Carlos Rodon to the 40-man roster. Want to bet…

Even though the Pittsburgh Pirates have not changed their stance and continue to insist they have no intentions of trading away star center field Bryan Reynolds, with Reynolds having requested a trade it is difficult to see a scenario where he is not dealt. Especially since Reynolds has also rejected a long-term contract extension from the Pirates…

When Ben Cherington was hired as general manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates he inherited a strong farm system. However, one position in the Pirate farm system that was lacking was the catcher position. Cherington would begin to address the catcher position in the Pirate farm system. He did this via trades and the draft. One of the catching prospects…

PITTSBURGH - The Pirates pitching staff this season again ranked among the bottom third in the majors in practically every category. Yet manager Derek Shelton sees some reasons for optimism behind all the dismal numbers. "We're starting to see growth, which is really important," Shelton said. A roster overhaul for 2023 is just getting started, but…

Deputy Editor for Pickswise. Lover of all US sports and Southampton FC. After a quieter Thursday around Major League Baseball, Friday has a much larger slate. With that comes plenty of opportunities on the card to create a 3-team mega parlay. This parlay could pay out at over 8/1 odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, so be sure to check this out. But before…

The Pittsburgh Pirates will continue their three-game series with the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday evening at Camden Yards. With that said, it's a good time to check out our MLB odds series, which includes our Pirates-Orioles prediction and pick we have laid out below. Pittsburgh is fresh off a shutout at the hands of Baltimore last night, and in…

Few positions in baseball are more important for catcher. From Russell Martin to Francisco Cervelli, to Jacob Stallings and then Roberto Pérez to begin this season, the Pittsburgh Pirates have been spoiled with their catching situation for the better part of a decade. However, once Pérez was lost for the season to a hamstring injury that all…

ANAHEIM, Calif. - Cleveland claimed right-hander Luis Oviedo off waivers from Pittsburgh on Tuesday and added him to the club's 40-man roster. Familiar face: If Oviedo's name sounds familiar, it's because the 22-year-old Venezuelan was a member of Cleveland's 2016 international signing class and spent five seasons with the organization before being…

The New York Yankees (96-59, 1st in AL East) play their final series at Yankee Stadium as they take on the Baltimore Orioles (80-75, 4th in AL East) this weekend in a three-game set that begins Friday night. New York is red hot as its won 16 of its last 21 games including series sweeps against the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox and most…