On a day during which the Pirates announced four non-roster invitees, the Pirates also signed former Marlin J.T. Riddle to a big league contract.
Riddle is on the 40-man roster, which sits at 40 players.
Riddle played in 51 games for the big league club in Miami during the 2019 season, with seven starts at shortstop and 26 in center field.
The 28-year-old has shown athleticism and diversity with his position play throughout his career. Overall, he’s made 176 appearances at short and 31 in center. All of his appearances in center field were last season.
The Pirates could play Riddle in the infield, or he could help fill the gap in the outfield left by the Starling Marte trade earlier this week.
Riddle’s season was cut short due to a right forearm strain in July. He attempted a return with four rehab games for the Marlins’ Class AAA affiliate.
The Marlins selected Riddle in the 13th round of the 2013 draft. He’s been in the Marlins organization for his whole career and has a .229 batting average with 79 RBIs and 18 home runs in 223 big league games.
Nubyjas Wilborn: nwilborn@post-gazette.com and Twitter @nwilborn19
First Published: January 31, 2020, 9:34 p.m.
