The Pittsburgh Pirates enter play today with a 14-18 record. They were just swept by the Oakland Athletics and have lost six of their last eight games. They host the Colorado Rockies for a three-game series starting Friday night. Yesterday, they announced two moves before the start of the series.
C – Henry Davis
The Pirates optioned the young Catcher to Triple-A today to play for the Indianapolis Indians. Davis has been unable to carry over his success this spring into the regular season. He has played in 23 games for the Pirates so far this year. He has no home runs and only four RBIs in those games. He has slashed .162/.280/.206 with a .486 OPS this season.
C – Yasmani Grandal
The Pirates activated Grandal from the 10-day injured list this afternoon. Grandal has yet to play a game in the regular season for the Pirates this year. He only played in two games in Spring training before being placed on the injured list with left foot plantar fasciitis. He has slashed .237/.347/.426 with a .648 OPS in a 12-year career.
Wrap Up:
Another year, another decent start, followed by an immediate cool down by the Pittsburgh Pirates. They started the year 9-2 with an opening series sweep of the Miami Marlins to start the season. Unfortunately, they have cooled off dramatically since then. Being swept by the Oakland Athletics hurts, as it could’ve been a series to win heading into this coming series with the Colorado Rockies. A series win over the A’s and the Rockies could set them up with decent momentum before taking on the Los Angeles Angels to start next week without Mike Trout. It’s nice to get the veteran backstop back in the fold with Grandal’s return. Unfortunately, the power-hitting Davis cannot carry over his power surge from spring into the season, which hurts the Pirates’ lineup flexibility. Hopefully, he can figure things out in Triple-A and return to find success with the big league club sometime soon. Maybe the next time we see Davis this season in Pittsburgh, he can be behind the plate catching for Paul Skenes.
