It wasn’t the biggest storyline the Pirates encountered on Friday — the signing of first-round Termarr Johnson holds that distinction — but it’s one that will probably please fans the most.
Yes, general manager Ben Cherington confirmed, the team figures to look much different very soon. The MLB trade deadline is Tuesday, and that should be the linchpin to the active roster skewing much younger, the way it looked earlier this season.
“I would expect we’ll have some changes,” Cherington said. “There are guys that are in Indy that we’d like to see here at some point. Trades or no trades, you’ll likely see some changes. We just want to create some opportunity for some guys who are in Indy now, so we’ll see how that plays out.”
The most productive option at Triple-A of late has been Ji-hwan Bae; however, he’s now sidelined with a strained oblique. Another player who should be on the post-deadline list is Tucupita Marcano, who stretched his hitting streak to eight games Friday. Functioning as the leadoff hitter at Triple-A Indianapolis, Marcano began Friday’s game with a .404 on-base percentage over his past 11 games since he was optioned on July 5.
Another player who has been productive of late is Rodolfo Castro, who was hitting .345 prior to Friday’s game, with two home runs, a double and four RBIs during that span.
Pitching options include Cam Alldred and Cody Bolton, while the Pirates will surely want to take a longer look at 2018 first-round pick Travis Swaggerty.
Bottom line, the Pirates have been getting nothing from Josh VanMeter and Yoshi Tsutsugo, while others such as Jose Quintana, Ben Gamel and Kevin Newman could easily be on other teams this time next week.
Seventh heaven
Lifelong Steelers fan David Bednar caught a ceremonial first pitch from Ben Roethlisberger, a bucket-list moment for the Mt. Lebanon-born and Mars-raised closer.
It was a funny exchange, too, how it was determined who would catch Roethlisberger’s toss.
“If it was anyone else,” Bednar said, “I might have had to fight them.”
Manager Derek Shelton, meanwhile, said Bednar spent the bulk of their community appearances to various firehouses and police stations Friday morning lobbying to do it — a decision Shelton had obviously made long ago.
“I was like, ‘Who did you lobby with?’ ” Shelton said before the game. “But I think it's cool. Any time we can kind of cross-pollinate with the Steelers or Penguins in the ballpark, I think it's awesome. When you're getting a guy of Ben's caliber and what he's meant to the city, I think it's gonna be really cool.”
Bednar said he also campaigned to try the pierogi-eating contest, but that was quickly shot down by Shelton.
“Shelton said that’s a firm no,” Bednar said.
No minor issue
The injury bug has certainly bitten the Pirates in the minor leagues. Their past three first-round picks, Quinn Priester, Nick Gonzales and Henry Davis, have all missed time with injuries, and the latter two remain out.
They’re also without Double-A power hitter Matt Gorski, while others such as Matt Fraizer and Jared Triolo, got off to slow starts and are trying their best to make up for lost time.
Add it up, and, yeah, it has been a bit of a concern for the Pirates, who Cherington said might look for opportunities for these guys to make up reps in the Arizona Fall League or by playing winter ball.
“Case-by-case, obviously,” Cherington said. “We’ll see what happens. But first thing’s first. Just hopeful, knock on wood, that some of the injury bug that we’ve had has passed us and we’ll get guys back on the field soon.”
Reinforcing commitment
While Cherington said the Pirates are likely done signing draft picks, they remain interested in adding undrafted free agents. They also spent their entire bonus pool in the draft, which is what they’ve historically done and expected to do in this draft.
The final piece was signing first-round pick Termarr Johnson to an above-slot deal.
“From the day I’ve been here, [owner] Bob [Nutting] and [president] Travis [Williams] and the whole organization has been not just completely supportive, but completely convicted on the importance of investment in young players,” Cherington said. “That’s never been a question. We’re going to spend every dollar that we can in the draft and get the best possible players we can.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: July 30, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: July 30, 2022, 12:30 p.m.
