Hayes, Tucker sent to Class AAA
Tucker, Hayes among those starting in AAA
In a typical year, the moves the Pirates made Friday might’ve offered a peek at the opening day roster. But this hardly qualifies as a normal year or period of time thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic.
So, with an unknown restart date and likely with a couple of different things in mind — some baseball, others business — the Pirates optioned seven players to Class AAA Indianapolis.
The two most notable were third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and middle infielder Cole Tucker, who, assuming nothing changes, likely will start the season in Class AAA.
The other players the Pirates optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis were Geoff Hartlieb, Yacksel Rios, Sam Howard, Edgar Santana and Jason Martin.
“In a typical year, if you make moves like this on March 20, it’s a pretty clear indication that you’re probably getting toward the opening day roster, and those guys aren’t going to be on the opening day roster,” Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said. “I think this year, that’s less conclusive right now. We’re certainly in a less-certain time.
“But we weren’t comfortable with the uncertainty and having guys spread out all over the country and globe at this point carrying as big of a number as we were. We wanted to get down to a smaller number.”
There’s also a rule in place where, if one of these guys got hurt during this time, he would stay on the major league injured list and accrue service time; surely that had to have some impact on the decision.
If Hayes starts the season in Class AAA, Colin Moran figures to receive the starting nod at third base after an abbreviated spring when he hit .241 but did show sporadic signs of power.
Hayes hit .280 in spring training. And while he didn’t necessarily look out of place, he also didn’t force management’s hand. It would’ve been interesting to see what he could’ve done with a couple of more weeks.
“Really excited about what he did and probably not surprising, but really impressive watching him play,” Cherington said of Hayes. “The poise and defense you know about. Good at-bats, consistent at-bats. Fun kid to be around. Probably came in to the spring with the expectation that there might be a little more time in [Class AAA], but we wanted to have an open mind. He did a lot of good things.”
The Pirates also broached a long-term deal with Hayes and, according to a source, the sides exchanged figures. Those talks have been put on the back-burner for now. It was believed that Hayes would’ve started with the big club had he signed.
Tucker hit .296 and tied for the team lead with three home runs while showing off a revamped swing, one that has put a greater emphasis on launch angle. He also had tamped down his number of strikeouts.
But the 23-year-old first-round pick simply needs to play every day and couldn’t with the big club, in this hypothetical scenario. (These moves also tell us that, again if they hold, your bench is more than likely JT Riddle, Jose Osuna, Erik Gonzalez, Guillermo Heredia and Luke Maile, provided roster sizes don’t increase.)
“We definitely believe in Cole as an every-day player,” Cherington said. “He’s young enough where we think he should be playing every day still. Certainly see him contributing at the major league level really soon and believe he’s going to be an important part of what we’re doing. Don’t know when that will start. We do think it’s important that he plays every day.”
The other position player on the AAA list, Martin, found himself stuck behind Bryan Reynolds, Jarrod Dyson, Gregory Polanco and Heredia in the outfield. The Pirates like Martin’s speed and defense, although there’s simply not enough opportunity right now for him with the major league club.
Among the pitchers, Santana was a surprise. Coming off Tommy John surgery, Santana did not allow a hit, run nor walk in five appearances totaling five innings with four strikeouts. He honestly might’ve been their best pitcher this spring.
It seemed like Santana was ticketed for a regular role in the bullpen — and still might be. Again, these are special circumstances, with a certain amount of risk management involved.
Neither Hartlieb nor Rios came as a surprise, as both had double-digit ERAs. Hartlieb showed promise when he located his sinker, but that didn’t happen frequently enough.
Sending Howard to Class AAA pushes forward one bullpen battle. If the Pirates decide to keep a left-hander in the bullpen other than Derek Holland or Steven Brault, it looks like it’ll be Robbie Erlin, who had a 6.00 ERA in spring training. (Cherington said Erlin was working on a few things and started to improve toward the end.)
Nic Turley (seven strikeouts in 3⅓ innings) also impressed and could surprise some people.
“We feel better about our left-handed bullpen options than we did in January,” Cherington said.
Minor league pay has been a hot-button topic in MLB of late, although all seven will continue to receive a $1,100 weekly stipend because they’re on the 40-man roster.
Opt-out clauses
Cherington said he has received no clarity on guys who have opt-out clauses in their contracts — Holland, John Ryan Murphy and Erlin. Holland is easy; he’s likely the fifth starter. But the Pirates would like to know on the other two.
Food donations
The Pirates and Pirates Charities announced a $50,000 donation to the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank to support multiple food distribution events amid the coronavirus outbreak. According to a release issued by the Pirates, this donation equates to 250,000 meals that will be distributed to help more than 110,000 people served every month in southwestern Pennsylvania. The Pirates also donated more than 1,000 pounds of perishable food items from PNC Park through 412 Food Rescue.