After salvaging the final game of their home series with division rival Cincinnati, the Pirates are making some roster moves to bolster their bullpen as they head out on a six-game road trip to face the Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs.
The Pirates are adding RHP Jared Hughes and RHP Ryan Reid from AAA-Indianapolis in time for the 7:10pm start with the Braves tonight. Hughes is making his return to the Bucs after being sent to AAA in May. He was a big part of the Pirates 2012 bullpen, appearing in 66 games and posting a 2.85 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 75.2 IP. To make room for Hughes on the 25-man roster, the Pirates optioned OF Alex Presley back to Indianapolis.
Reid was not on the 40-man roster, so some deeper roster shuffling took place to clear a spot. RHP Phil Irwin was transferred to the 60-day DL. Irwin had been on the disabled list in AAA, so he was reinstated to the roster and moved to the major league DL. The Pirates then placed RHP Jeanmar Gomez on the 15-day DL with the forearm sprain he suffered on Sunday. Reid will be making his first trip to the major leagues after signing a minor league deal with the Pirates in the offseason. The former 7th round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2006 has been dominant for Indianapolis this season, going 6-1 with a sparkling 0.52 ERA in 34.2 innings for the Indians, all out of the bullpen. Reid throws a low 90’s fastball and a good slider, which he has used to compile an 8.0 K/9 ratio this season.
The demotion of Presley leaves the team short one bat off the bench for their road trip. The Pirates will face right-hander Kris Medlan tonight, LHP Mike Minor tomorrow, and finish off with RHP Julio Teheran on Wednesday. Minor has been especially tough against left-handed hitters, who are batting just .138 on the season against him. This may force the Pirates to use Brandon Inge in the outfield on Tuesday night to keep Garrett Jones out of a bad lefty-on-lefty match-up. Inge has started two games in RF thus far in 2013 after not playing the outfield since 2008 with the Tigers.
The Pirates will travel to Chicago on Thursday, and then begin a weekend series against the resurgent Cubs. Before losing the final two games of a home series against Arizona, Chicago had been winners of five in a row.
