Minor MLB Transactions: 9/27/20

With the final day of the 2020 regular season underway, a number of teams made a final roster move before the action kicked off. We’ll use this post to track some of those moves…

• The Pirates placed catcher Jacob Stallings into the 7-day concussion protocol, the team announced. Andrew Susac was added to the active roster for today’s action. To make room on the 40-man roster, Keone Kela was moved to the 45-day injured list. Susac had been on the taxi squad. The 30-year-old backstop made appearances in the bigs for five consecutive seasons from 2014 to 2018 with the Giants, Brewers, and Orioles. He spent 2019 with the Royals Triple-A affiliate. Stallings, 30, misses the final day of the season after slashing .248/.326/.376 across 42 games and 143 plate appearances. Stallings was the Pirates’ primary catcher for the first time in his career this season, starting 40 of the team’s 60 games.
• Joe Hudson has been recalled from the Mariners’ alternate training site for the final game of the season, per the Mariners’ PR department. Luis Torrens was placed on the 10-day injured list with back spasms. Hudson is making his third trip to the Mariners this season having one 3 for 17 in 9 games thus far. The 24-year-old catcher has started 16 games behind the plate for Seattle since coming over from the Padres at the deadline. Between both clubs, he slashed .257/.325/.371 across 78 plate appearances. It’s notable that Mariners’ manager Scott Servais noted that the offseason plan for Torrens will be to get strong enough to handle a full 162-game season, per MLB.com’s Greg Johns. The Mariners would like Torrens to add 8-10 pounds before next season.
• The Cardinals activated outfielder Austin Dean before Sunday’s game, optioning Nabil Crismatt to the team’s alternate site, per Anne Rogers of MLB.com (via Twitter). The 25-year-old Crismatt made 6 appearances out of the bullpen for the Cardinals this season with a 3.24 ERA over 8 1/3 innings. This was the first taste of big-league action for the right-hander. Dean was acquired in the offseason from the Marlins, but he’s appeared in just 3 games for the Cardinals this season. The 26-year-old has been out since mid-September with a right elbow strain.