The Pirates have designated outfielder JB Shuck for assignment, the team announced. Shuck’s 25-man roster spot will go to reliever Dovydas Neverauskas, whom the Pirates recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Despite having to settle for a minor league deal over the winter, Shuck cracked the Pirates’ injury-laden outfield to open the season. While the 31-year-old got off to a nice start, evidenced by his season-best .864 OPS on April 14, his numbers have cratered in recent weeks. Shuck did got on base at a .339 clip and walk in 14 percent of his 57 plate appearances before Pittsburgh designated him, but he hit just .213 and showed no power (zero home runs, .043 ISO, .255 slugging percentage) along the way.
Including his stint with the Pirates, the light-hitting Shuck has managed a .243/.296/.314 line in 1,289 major league PA with several teams. Shuck has been a much better Triple-A performer, on the other hand, with a .299/.373/.393 showing in 3,610 attempts.