Prior to Friday’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates have called up Jaff Decker to help fill a bench role.
This is the corresponding move for Wilfredo Boscan being sent down following Sunday’s extra inning win against the St. Louis Cardinals. Boscan was brought up because the game the day prior was over five hours and took 14 innings to play. Boscan was also in play because it was his day to pitch and both Deolis Guerra and Vance Worley were unavailable to make a relief appearance due to work load.
Decker is a left-handed bat that had a good Spring Training which also allowed him to contend for a roster spot, however he suffered an injury before the regular season started.
After coming off the disabled list, Decker has batted .275 with 24 RBI as a member of the Indianapolis Indians, the Pirates Triple-A affiliate.
This is not Decker’s first time in the major leagues, as he played in five games last season with the Pirates and failed to get a hit. Additionally, he had 26 at-bats in 13 games with the San Diego Padres in 2013 and had four hits including his first career major league home run.
Decker was previously considered for a call up when Andrew Lambo went on the DL, and Jose Tabata as well as Chris Volstad were designated for assignment. In both instances Steve Lombardozzi was selected instead and Gorkys Hernandez was also selected.
“Decker has done some things in the batter’s box that put him right in the middle of that conversation,” general manager Neal Huntington said in a press conference earlier in the season.
The Pirates begin their second half of the season with three games against the Brewers followed by three more games on the road against the Kansas City Royals.
