Morning Rundown: Pirates trade Jackson Wolf to San Diego, more roster moves
Morning Rundown: Pirates trade Jackson Wolf to San Diego, more roster moves
On an off-day, the Pirates made several roster moves, including adding a new catcher.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were busy on Tuesday, making several roster moves, which included two trades.
First, they sent left-handed pitcher Jackson Wolf to the San Diego Padres, the team they originally acquired him from, in exchange for infielder Kervin Pichardo.
Wolf, 24, was never able to find a place within a system loaded with pitching depth. After coming over from the Padres last year, he posted a 4.25 ERA over 36 innings pitched, striking out 30 batters while walking only 10.
Coming over from the Padres is the 22-year-old Pichardo. He spent the majority of the 2023 season in High-A, where he posted a 131 wRC+ and hit eight home runs in 262 plate appearances.
He reached Triple-A as a 20-year-old in 2022, something not uncommon in the Padres system. While there, he hit four home runs in 29 games with a wRC+ of 82.
The Pirates made a second trade, sending right-handed pitcher Austin Strickland to the San Francisco Giants for Joey Bart, who was recently designated for assignment.
Colin Selby was DFA to make room on the 40-man roster.
Strickland was the Pirates’ eighth-round pick in 2023 out of the University of Kentucky. He had yet to make his official professional debut but pitched an inning during a Spring Training game, where he showed a mid-90s sinker with a lot of run on it.
Bart was the second-overall pick in 2018 and was initially expected to be the heir apparent to Buster Posey.
He was never able to establish himself at the major league level and was DFA’d this year by the Giants.
There is some power there; he hit 11 home runs in 97 games during his most extensive look in the majors, but he also struck out 38% of the time.
In 2023, it looked like he was focusing on putting the ball in play more; his strikeout rate dropped 14%, but he couldn’t get the power to translate with the new approach.
Although the move seemed curious at first, it now makes a lot more sense, given that Jason Delay is heading to the injured list.
Bart will get a chance to back up Henry Davis and potentially add some pop to the lineup.
Delay has options remaining, so if Bart is playing well, they could send him to the minors when he returns.
Top Exit Velocity
Malcom Nunez - IND - 106.1 mph - Home Run
Gilberto Celestino - IND - 102.5 mph - Single
Nick Gonzales - IND - 99.7 mph - Single
Jake Lamb - IND - 97.5. mph - Flyout
Liover Peguero - IND - 95.8 mph - Flyout
Top Pitch Velocity
Colin Holderman - IND - 96.7 mph
Colin Selby - IND - 96.2 mph
Colin Selby - IND - 96.1 mph
Colin Selby - IND - 96 mph
Colin Selby - IND - 96 mph
Most Whiffs (Whiff%)
Colin Holderman - IND - 3 (50%)
Jose Hernandez - IND - 3 (30%)
Cam Alldred - IND - 3 (17%)
Geronimo Franzua - IND - 2 (20%)
Colin Selby - IND - 1 (25%)
Indianapolis Indians - 2 vs Memphis Redbirds - 7
Top Hitter - Malcom Nunez: 1-3, HR, R, RBI
Top Pitcher - Colin Holderman: IP, 2 K
If you haven’t seen it yet, I was a guest on North Shore Nine Monday morning, in what will become a weekly segment to talk about the Pirates system.
There wasn’t much to talk about yet, with just Indianapolis playing, but we did go over the starts by Quinn Priester and Paul Skenes, as well as a player to watch out for this season who hasn’t been talked about much yet (if you follow along on the site here, you can probably guess who).
Here is the 15-minute clip of my appearance.
So Selby was the obvious choice for the DFA imo but now that he's off the roster, does the clock start ticking for Falter and Contreras? That would make sense given that the next players who will need 40-man spot are likely to be pitchers (Skenes, German, Lauer, Honeywell, ...). After those two, though, then it might start getting tough (and even Ro will be a tough decision).
MLB.com has an article up predicting when the top prospects are coming up. J. Mayo said May 3 for Skenes while J. Callis originally predicted May 22 but now feels closer to Mayo's date especially if the Pirates feel they are serious contenders. The Pirates have a nine game homestand starting May 3.