The Pirates have announced that they have hired Reverend Cam Oldred for the assignment. Pittsburgh put first baseman Daniel Vogelbach on the 10-day injured list and placed reliever Heath Hambury in the 15-day IL. Right-hander Ronsi Contreras and outfielder Calvin Mitchell explain the location for previously-reported ads.
Aldred got his first major league call just a few weeks ago. The 25-year-old made a single appearance by tossing a scoreless innings against the Reds before returning to Triple-A Indianapolis. He spent the rest of the season there, playing 20 1/3 innings in ten games. Aldred has a sterling 1.33 ERA, which moves the grounders to three-fifths of the bat he allows.
The University of Cincinnati product did not lose many bats in young children. Triple-A has an average strikeout rate of 21.3%, not surprising for a pitcher who averaged 86.7 MPH on his sinker during his lone Big League outing. However, Aldred has performed well in minors throughout his career and has seen significant improvements in both his walking and ground-ball numbers so far in 2022.
Vogelbach hits IL due to left arm strain. The team has not given a return schedule for the 29-year-old, the club’s primary designated hitter this season. Lefty-swinging Vogelback signed a M 1MM deal in the offseason and got off to a good start in his Pittsburgh tenure. He hits .241 / .321 / .457 while popping six home runs from his first 131 plate appearances.
Hembree signed a one-year deal with Bucs as a free agent, but he is still making a bad start. The right-handed player has 17 matches with an 8.10 ERA, facing 14.5% of the batsmen. Humberly profiled as an interesting buy-low flyer after beating 34.2% opponents in the Reds and Mets last season. With an initial strike rate of only 16.1%, it has not yet come close to replicating it.
In other news of the books injury, the club transferred shortstop Kevin Newman to the 60-day IL yesterday. (This move was necessary to accommodate the advertisement of Jerry de los Santos). General manager Ben Cherrington announced over the weekend that Newman had suffered a hamstring injury while on a minor league reassignment assignment (link via Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Jerry Dipola). This is a different issue than the left thigh strain that originally brought him to IL last month.
Cherrington indicated that Newman’s new injury was unlikely to be serious, although he has stopped his rehabilitation period. He will not be eligible to return to Major for 60 days from the time of his initial IL placement on 27 April. Returning at the end of June is the best possible outcome for a 28-year-old who has been killed 250 / -. .308 / .375 in 14 games before waist injury.
