The Pirates announced they’ve selected left-hander Josh Fleming onto the MLB roster while placing reliever Hunter Stratton on the 15-day injured list due to a triceps strain. To open a spot on the 40-man roster for Fleming, Pittsburgh designated Niko Goodrum for assignment. The Pirates also announced that reliever Ben Heller accepted an assignment back to Triple-A Indianapolis following today’s outright.
Goodrum’s stint with Pittsburgh could last less than a week. The Bucs claimed him off waivers from the Angels on Monday. Skipper Derek Shelton didn’t get him into a game before the need for another pitcher squeezed him off the roster. The 32-year-old utilityman is on his fourth organization of the season. Goodrum initially signed a minor league deal with the Twins. He leveraged an upward mobility clause to secure a 40-man roster spot with the Rays late in Spring Training before bouncing to Los Angeles and Pittsburgh on waivers.
The left-handed hitter appeared in 13 games between the Rays and Angels, hitting .103 with 10 strikeouts and zero extra-base hits. Goodrum had fared well in 17 contests with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A club in Durham, turning in a .270/.387/.444 slash with a trio of home runs. He’ll very likely wind up back on waivers in the next couple days.
Fleming, another former Ray, is back for his second stint of the season. Over the winter, Pittsburgh signed the southpaw to a split deal that pays him at an $850K rate for time spent on the major league roster. Fleming occupied a long relief role early in the year but was tagged for 16 runs over 19 innings. The Bucs ran him through outright waivers in May.
The 28-year-old accepted the minor league assignment and has spent the past month in Indy. His results there haven’t been much better. Fleming has allowed eight runs over 12 2/3 Triple-A frames, striking out five of the 55 batters he’s faced. He’ll work as a multi-inning arm out of Shelton’s bullpen for the time being. Fleming is out of options, meaning the Bucs would again need to run him through waivers if they want to send him back to Triple-A.
He’ll have more jerseys than a Fanatics patron
Niko, we hardly knew ye
Another year of not having to get a real job for Nico
I bet you couldn’t even pick up a bat,or catch a baseball….do you even know about A REAL JOB. YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT ANYTHING…..PEOPLE LIKE YOU SHOULD POST ON A PLATFORM WHERE PEOPLE LIKE I YOU BELONG…SMALL HANDS SOCIAL
There’s a place fir people who think like you…and it has plenty of people like you in it…..GRAVEYARDS
ONE MORE THING, DIMWIT. WHAT DO YOU CONSIDER TO BE A REAL JOB? UNLIKE YOU I DONT JUDGE PEOPLE, I DONT JUDGE PEOPLE’S PROFESSION, NO MATTER WHAT IT MIGHT BE.
THIS IS A BASEBALL FORUM, NOT A JUDGEMENT CENTER ON A BALL PLAYERS STATUS. WHAT GIVES YOU ,AND OTHERS THAT IVE SEEN , THE RIGHT TO RIDICULE A PROFESSIONAL ATHELETE. ESPECIALLY SOMEONE, LIKE YOU, WHO COULDN’T WEAR AN ATHELETES JOCK STRAP.
Anyway, you had a good career ,nico. Whether it’s over or not. You’ve done something not too many others can do. Good luck
They lost the good rum.
Post about HOBERG
I had no idea about this story but wow, umpire suspended for gambling.
Pirates HAD good rum.
Craig Breslow on line 1, Niko…
That’s the one thing the Red Sox don’t need is another mediocre utility player.
Definitely Pirates HOF candidate
A+
now if only they could sign a successful hitting coach
Their hitting coach will retroactively be “good” at his job after they get good hitters. (The hitting coach has like zero effect on outcome.)
What do you know about how this hitting coach teaches his students considering you’re an obvious Cardinal fan ?
I would venture to say nothing
They are taught to take pitches to get into the bullpen earlier but riddle me this, do you know why Haines was fired as hitting coach by the Brewers before the Bucs hired him ?
My guess is no you don’t
Man…don’t waste your time arguing with someone who undoubtedly knows everything about stupidity
Your brilliant point is that, because I’m a Cardinal fan, therefore I can’t know anything about hotting coaches…. O….k…
I wonder what the record a single player has for one season with different organizations. A few years ago there was a guy that bounced around quite often during the offseason. It was like 5 times he was waived by 3 or 4 teams and most of them were in the NL Central. I am curious to know what the record is for the player to be picked up through one season.
He should probably keep his clothes in the suitcase for the rest of the season at the rate he is going. Don’t bother unpacking because you will be in a different organization before the week is up. At this point, maybe he should head overseas and try to find a more permanent home for awhile. Unless he has a year expenses paid in full of Greyhound busing, find something more stable.
Will Ferrell baseball-reference.com/players/f/ferrewi01.shtml