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Ryan Vilade

Cardinals Sign Ryan Vilade To Minor League Deal

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The Cardinals announced that they have signed infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade to a minor league contract. The Icon Sports Management client also receives a non-roster invite to major league spring training.

Vilade, 26 in February, has some slivers of major league experience. He got into three games for the 2021 Rockies and then 17 games for the 2024 Tigers. He has a .157/.200/.216 batting line in 56 plate appearances in the big leagues. He was outrighted by Detroit at the end of the season and elected free agency.

Those numbers are obviously not impressive, but it’s also a tiny sample size and the Cards are surely looking more at his minor league track record. He got into 108 Triple-A games in 2024, slashing .278/.346/.449 for a 105 wRC+ in his 442 plate appearances at that level. He also stole 20 bases while lining up defensively at all three outfield spots and the three non-shortstop infield positions.

Vilade also has a bit of prospect pedigree, as he was a second-round pick of the Rockies in 2017. He hit well in the lower levels of the minors in the early stages of his professional career, getting ranked by Baseball America as one of Colorado’s top ten prospects from 2018 to 2022. But he didn’t hit much at the Triple-A level in 2021 or 2022, so the Rockies put him on waivers. The Pirates put in a claim and ran him through waivers, with Vilade then going on to have another lackluster Triple-A season in 2023.

He was able to elect free agency going into 2024 and signed a minor league deal with the Tigers. As mentioned, he didn’t do much in his brief major league time but got back on track a bit at the Triple-A level, enough to intrigue the Cardinals.

St. Louis is planning for 2025 to be a reset year, where they will be more focused on upgrading their player development pipeline than on short-term contention. As such, it’s possible that they could consider trades of players with limited long-term value. Nolan Arenado seems like he could be on the move since he is turning 34 and wants to play for a contender. Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar have three years of club control left and are plausible candidates to be available. Nolan Gorman still has four years of club control remaining but seems to have fallen out of favor with the Cards, making him a change of scenery candidate. Paul Goldschmidt is already gone via free agency.

Vilade’s ability to play multiple positions means that he could take up some of the playing time that might shake loose as the club shuffles the roster. If he gets a roster spot at any point, he still has one option year remaining and only has a few days of service time, meaning he can potentially be cheaply retained into the future.

Tigers Decline Option On Casey Mize, Retain Club Control Via Arbitration

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The Tigers declined their $3.1MM option on Casey Mize. That’s a procedural transaction, as Mize does not have the requisite six years of service to become a free agent. He remains under arbitration control and is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz for a $2MM salary. Detroit also outrighted Bligh Madris, Ryan Vilade and Bryan Sammons off the 40-man roster.

Mize took the ball 22 times this past season. The former first overall pick still hasn’t developed as hoped. He turned in a 4.49 ERA with a middling 17.3% strikeout rate. That limited his earning potential in arbitration. The modest $2MM projection means the Tigers will very likely bring Mize back to compete for a spot at the back of the rotation. He’ll be eligible for arbitration one more time before reaching free agency in the 2026-27 offseason.

Madris, Vilade and Sammons all played small roles for the Tigers in 2024. Madris and Vilade made a handful of appearances off the bench. Sammons, a rookie left-hander, pitched 27 1/3 innings of 3.62 ERA ball as a bulk pitcher. All three players can become minor league free agents.

Tigers Reinstate Kerry Carpenter

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The Tigers announced that outfielder Kerry Carpenter has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade was optioned to Triple-A Toledo to open an active roster spot. In a corresponding 40-man roster move, right-hander Brendan White was recalled from Double-A Erie and placed on the 60-day injured list with a right elbow strain.

The return of Carpenter should be a nice boost for the Detroit lineup. He has appeared in 199 major league games to this point in his career and has hit 34 home runs in that time. His .275/.336/.495 slash line translates to a 128 wRC+, indicating he’s been 28% better than league average overall.

He landed on the IL at the end of May due to an unknown lower back injury that was later reported to be a lumbar spine stress fracture. He eventually missed over two months, getting transferred to the 60-day IL along the way, but is now able to rejoin the lineup. The Tigers are nine games back of a playoff spot and have long odds for a miracle run at this point, but it will still be good for Carpenter to get some playing time before the offseason kicks in.

White, 25, has been on Detroit’s 40-man roster since November of 2022. Last year, he was able to toss 40 2/3 innings in the big leagues with a 5.09 ERA, 24.9% strikeout rate, 8.5% walk rate and 51.8% ground ball rate.

This year, he was optioned during Spring Training and has been in the minors all season. At the end of May, the club listed him as dealing with right elbow inflammation, per Evan Woodbery of MLive Media Group on X. He was still experiencing elbow discomfort in July, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press on X.

At this point, details are still murky about what’s next but it seems the club doesn’t expect him back this year, hence the 60-day IL placement. If there’s a silver lining for White, it’s that he’ll get major league pay and service time for the rest of the season. He was able to accrue 111 days of service last year, putting him 61 days shy of the one-year mark. There’s not enough time left in 2024 for him to get over that line but he’ll creep towards it and get a little pay bump while navigating his injury absence.

Tigers Place Riley Greene On Injured List

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The Tigers announced that outfielder Riley Greene has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. Infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade has been recalled from Triple-A Toledo in a corresponding move.

At this point, it’s unclear how long Greene is expected to be out of action and the player himself couldn’t provide much clarity. “It’s Grade 1 or 2, whatever it is,” Greene said, per Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic on X. “It could have been worse. I’m glad it’s not. There’s really no timeline behind it. It’s based on how I’m feeling, and go from there.”

Even with that murky prognosis, it could be a notable development nonetheless as Greene has easily been the club’s best position player this year and the Tigers are one of many in-between teams that could impact Tuesday’s trade deadline.

In 101 games for Detroit this year, Greene has 17 home runs. His 25.5% strikeout rate is a bit on the high side but he’s also drawn walks in 11.9% of his plate appearances. His .264/.357/.485 batting line leads to a 136 wRC+, indicating he’s been 36% better than the league average hitter.

Greene’s glovework has also received strong reviews. He has played all three outfield slots, though mostly in left field. Thus far, he’s racked up nine Defensive Runs Saved and two Outs Above Average.

Combining his offensive and defensive contributions, Greene has been worth 2.9 wins above replacement this year, per the calculations of FanGraphs. No other position player on the Tigers has been worth more than 1.5 fWAR this year so Greene is essentially doubling all of his non-pitching teammates in that department.

The Tigers are one of many clubs within sight of a playoff spot but not necessarily with a great shot. They are 51-53 and currently 5.5 games back of an American League Wild Card spot. The Playoff Odds at FanGraphs give them an 8.8% chance of getting into the postseason while the PECOTA Standings at Baseball Prospectus have them a tad lower at 7.7%.

If they decide to sell between now and the deadline, they could make some very interesting players available. Jack Flaherty is viewed as the top rental starting pitcher on the market and the Tigers have other possible rentals in Carson Kelly, Mark Canha and Gio Urshela. They have 2025 club options on Andrew Chafin and Shelby Miller. Though Tarik Skubal has two years of club control remaining after this one, rival clubs are undoubtedly trying their best to get him out of Detroit.

The Tigers are playing the Twins this weekend, one of the clubs they are chasing in the playoff race. Perhaps their results this weekend will impact what kind of moves they make. Losing Greene figures to hurt their chances in those upcoming games and the ones to come after that, making this a potentially significant IL stint.

Tigers Place Reese Olson On Injured List, Select Bligh Madris

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The Tigers announced a series of roster moves prior to today’s game. Right-hander Reese Olson was placed on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain and infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade was optioned to Triple-A Toledo. To take those two roster spots, the Tigers selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Bligh Madris and recalled left-hander Easton Lucas. To open a 40-man spot for Madris, outfielder Kerry Carpenter was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Olson started for the Tigers yesterday against the Blue Jays but departed after just two innings with the club announcing his injury as right shoulder soreness. Now it seems a strain has been discovered and he’ll need to miss at least 15 days, though it’s unclear how severe the strain is or exactly how long the club expects to be without him.

That will interrupt a very nice season for Olson, as he has made 19 starts with a 3.23 earned run average. His 21.6% strikeout rate is subpar but he’s limited walks to a 7.3% clip and kept 51.2% of balls on the ground.

The Tigers’ rotation is also without Casey Mize and Sawyer Gipson-Long, as both of those hurlers are currently on the IL. Gipson-Long had internal brace surgery in April and is done for the year while Mize has a left hamstring strain and has yet to begin a rehab assignment. In recent days, Matt Manning suffered a lat strain in the minors and won’t be an option anytime soon either.

Detroit has been hot lately, with 11 wins in their last 14 games, pulling them to within five games of a Wild Card spot in the American League. Prior to that, they looked like clearcut deadline sellers, but that looks a bit more questionable after they recent climb.

A couple of weeks ago, Jack Flaherty was the top name on MLBTR’s list of deadline trade candidates. That was due to the combination of his excellent season, his status as an impending free agent and Detroit’s place in the standings. Guys like Gio Urshela, Mark Canha and Andrew Chafin also made some sense as deadline trade candidates, while plenty of clubs have seemingly been trying to pry Tarik Skubal loose as well.

Skubal was always a long shot with his two extra years of control and he’ll probably be even harder to acquire now that the Tigers are back in the playoff picture. Whether the club trades any impending free agents in the weeks to come will be an interesting situation and could perhaps depend on how they perform in the next week.

For now, they will have to proceed without Olson, Mize, Manning or Gipson-Long. That leaves them with a rotation consisting of Flaherty, Skubal and Keider Montero. They could perhaps return Kenta Maeda to the rotation, after bumping him to the bullpen recently. Prospect Ty Madden is in Triple-A but has an 8.43 ERA there and isn’t on the 40-man roster. Other non-roster options could include Bryan Sammons, Brant Hurter or Lael Lockhart. The Tigers also have one of the best pitching prospects in the league in Jackson Jobe, though he has not yet reached Triple-A and doesn’t even have 40 innings at the Double-A level yet.

Madris, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in the offseason and has been performing well in Triple-A this year. Through 80 games at that level, he has hit 14 home runs and walked in 12.8% of his plate appearances. The offensive environment is quite strong in the International League this year so his .236/.339/.464 batting line only translates to a wRC+ of 105, but he’s also stolen 17 bases and lined up at first base and all three outfield spots.

Since optioning Spencer Torkelson to the minors, the Tigers have been rotating first base duties mostly between Canha and Urshela but neither is having an especially strong year and both of them can play other positions. They also both hit right-handed while Madris is a lefty, perhaps creating platoon opportunities. Madris has hit just .217/.314/.383 against lefties this year but .241/.346/.488 against righties. Madris is in today’s lineup at first base against righty Kevin Gausman of the Blue Jays. Madris has a couple of options and less than a year of major league service time, so he could potentially be a long-term piece for the Tigers if he continues to hold onto his 40-man spot.

As for Carpenter, this move is largely a formality as he’s almost been on the IL for 60 days already. He landed there at the end of May due to a lumbar spine stress fracture and still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. He’ll be eligible to come off the IL once it’s been 60 days from his initial placement. That’s only a few days away but he’s not close to a return anyhow.

Tigers Option Parker Meadows, Select Ryan Vilade

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May 7: The Tigers have now officially announced that they have optioned Meadows, selected Vilade and transferred Gipson-Long to the 60-day IL.

May 6: The Tigers plan to option center fielder Parker Meadows to Triple-A Toledo before tomorrow’s matchup with the Guardians, reports Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free-Press. Detroit will promote Ryan Vilade to take the active roster spot, Petzold adds (on X). The Tigers will need to open a spot on the 40-man roster but can do so by transferring Sawyer Gipson-Long to the 60-day injured list.

While Detroit is out to a respectable 18-17 start, they’re riding a four-game losing skid after this evening’s loss in Cleveland. Their decent overall results are largely a credit of the pitching staff. The Tigers entered play Monday ranked 22nd in MLB in scoring. They’re 24th in on-base percentage and 25th in slugging.

It has been a very top-heavy group. While Riley Greene, Mark Canha, Kerry Carpenter, Matt Vierling and (in a smaller sample) Wenceel Pérez have hit well, Detroit has gotten almost nothing beyond the top half of their lineup. That’s particularly true at the up-the-middle positions. The catching duo of Carson Kelly and Jake Rogers and the middle infield tandem of Javier Báez and Colt Keith haven’t produced.

Meadows, who has started 26 of 35 games in center field, is off to perhaps the coldest start of all. He has punched out 32 times in 85 plate appearances. Meadows is hitting .096/.224/.219 with a pair of home runs. To his credit, he hasn’t carried those offensive struggles with him into the outfield. Public metrics have rated him among the sport’s best defensive players through the season’s first few weeks. Yet the Tigers clearly need some level of offensive contributions from the bottom of the order.

Plugging Pérez into the lineup is one way to try to inject more life into the offense, though it’ll surely involve a defensive downgrade. It seems that’s a trade-off the Tigers are willing to embrace. Manager A.J. Hinch had penciled Pérez into center field for four straight games at the end of last week. Meadows has gotten the start for the last two games while Pérez battled an illness. The rookie came off the bench to hit for Meadows in the sixth inning of tonight’s game.

Pérez, 24, has started his MLB career with a .296/.387/.556 slash over 62 plate appearances. While he’s not likely to continue hitting at that elite clip, the switch-hitter had a solid .274/.368/.417 showing between the top two minor league levels in 2023. At the very least, he’s currently in a much better groove at the plate than Meadows has been.

Meadows entered the season with 42 days of MLB service. He needs to spend 130 days on the MLB roster or injured list to surpass the one-year threshold in 2024. Meadows has spent 40 days in the majors this year. If he stays in Toledo for around two months, his path to free agency would be pushed back until the 2030-31 offseason.

Vilade, 25, has three games of MLB experience. A former second-round pick of the Rockies, he was once a prospect of some regard in the Colorado system. Vilade stalled out in the upper minors, though, and he only received a cup of coffee at Coors Field in 2021. He spent the 2023 season in Triple-A with the Pirates after being claimed off waivers. Vilade hit .271/.370/.382 with Pittsburgh’s top affiliate but didn’t get a big league look.

The right-handed hitter signed a minor league deal with the Tigers in November. He’s out to a big start in Toledo, hitting .333/.398/.551 with three homers and eight doubles. Vilade has also swiped eight bases in nine tries. He’s striking out at a 27.3% clip, which is a concern, but the overall production was enough to snag a roster spot. Vilade has bounced all over the diamond for the Mud Hens, starting multiple games at second base, third base, designated hitter and in all three outfield positions. He can work as a bat-first utility piece off the bench.

Keston Hiura Won’t Make Tigers, Has Upward Mobility Clause

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4:30pm: Petzold tweets that the upward mobility clause dates are March 26, June 1 and August 1.

4:10pm: The Tigers announced today that they have reassigned right-hander Trey Wingenter, left-hander Andrew Vasquez, catcher Anthony Bemboom, infielder Keston Hiura and outfielders Bligh Madris and Ryan Vilade to minor league camp, indicating that no one in that group will make the club’s Opening Day roster.

Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press takes a look at the moves and notes that the organization plans to have Hiura serve as the primary first baseman for Triple-A Toledo. However, the wrinkle in that plan is that his minor league deal has an upward mobility clause, also known as an assignment clause. There are multiple dates where the Tigers must ask the other 29 clubs if any is willing to give Hiura a roster spot. If any of them say yes, the Tigers either have to call him up themselves or trade him to the team that wants him.

That means that the Tigers can only keep him in Triple-A if the other teams all pass on the chance to take him. Petzold doesn’t provide specifics about the dates when the clause will be triggered, but he does note that one of them is next week.

The 27-year-old has had a feast-or-famine career thus far, as he has shown huge home run power but also a worrying penchant for strikeouts. He has 1,057 plate appearances at the major league level, all with the Brewers from 2019 to 2022. He struck out in 380 of them, a 36% rate which is well above par. The league-wide average was 22.7% in the majors last year, for reference. But Hiura did hit 50 home runs in that time.

Last year, Hiura was stuck in Triple-A. He hit 25 homers in 367 plate appearances at that level while keeping his strikeout rate to a more passable 24.5% clip. But he never got called back up to the big leagues and hit minor league free agency at season’s end, signing a minor league deal with the Tigers.

Here in the spring, he batted .323 for the Tigers with two homers in 34 plate appearances. He only struck out at a 23.5% rate but it’s a small sample size and spring stats are always to be taken with a grain of salt as opposing pitchers may not be major league caliber or may be experimenting as they get ready for the season.

Hiura doesn’t have a strong path to playing time in Detroit. He came up as a second baseman but was a poor defender there and spent more time at first base and left field last year. The Tigers have Spencer Torkelson entrenched at first for the foreseeable future. The designated hitter slot will likely be used to rotate their outfielders through, with Kerry Carpenter perhaps seeing the most time as a DH while Mark Canha, Parker Meadows and Riley Greene are on the grass. The bench will be taken up by backup catcher Carson Kelly and utility infielder/outfielders Andy Ibañez, Zach McKinstry and Matt Vierling.

The Tigers would surely like to keep Hiura around as depth but the other 29 clubs will have multiple opportunities to take a chance on him. The Rays just lost one player from their first base/designated hitter mix as it was reported today that Jonathan Aranda requires surgery for a broken finger. The Yankees may be without DJ LeMahieu to start the season after he fouled a ball of his foot. Hiura wouldn’t be able to step in as the everyday third baseman but could provide another bench bat while Oswaldo Cabrera covers the hot corner. The Angels have Nolan Schanuel as their first baseman despite the fact that he was just drafted last summer, and he’s also currently dealing with some back tightness.

There’s also the possibility for platooning, as Hiura has significant reverse splits in his career. He’s hit just .201/.283/.323 against southpaws for a 64 wRC+ but .253/.332/.508 against righties for a 122 wRC+, despite being a right-handed hitter. For any club that feels they are weak against righties, Hiura will be there for the taking. His deal comes with a $2MM base salary if he’s in the majors.

Tigers Sign Ryan Vilade To Minor League Deal

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The Tigers have signed infielder/outfielder Ryan Vilade to a minor league contract, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He will receive an invitation to major league Spring Training, per Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press.

Vilade, 25 in February, spent 2023 with the Pirates mostly in a non-roster capacity. He was claimed off waivers from the Rockies in the offseason but was designated for assignment on Opening Day, passing through waivers and sticking with the Bucs at Triple-A. He played 122 games at that level, striking out in 24.9% of his plate appearances but also walking at a 12.5% clip. He only hit six home runs on the year, leading to a batting line of .270/.370/.382 and wRC+ of 96.

He brings plenty of defensive versatility to the table, as he spent some time at first base, third base and all three outfield positions this year. He’s played some shortstop in the past, though not since 2019. He was limited to seven stolen bases in 2023, but he was in double digits in each previous year in which minor league games were played going back to 2018. He has three games of MLB experience, which came with the Rockies in 2021.

The Tigers already have plenty of outfielders, with Parker Meadows, Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter, Mark Canha and Akil Baddoo looking to split the playing time on the grass and perhaps in the designated hitter spot. Spencer Torkelson seems entrenched at first base but the hot corner is a bit more open. Matt Vierling is likely the favorite at that spot for now, though he hasn’t really done anything to lock the job down as he was around league average offensively and defensively in 2023. Andy Ibañez, Tyler Nevin, Nick Maton and Andre Lipcius are also on the roster and in the mix. Prospect Colt Keith could be the third baseman of the future but he’s also been getting some second base work lately. Justyn-Henry Malloy is also an attractive third base prospect, though he plays the outfield corners as well.

Vilade will give the club a bit more depth at that spot in a non-roster capacity, with the ability to pivot to other spots if injuries open up holes elsewhere. He is still quite young, has a couple of options and less than a year of service time, meaning he could be a long-term depth option for the club if he earns his way onto the roster.

Pirates Select Tyler Heineman, Designate Edwin Uceta

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The Pirates announced a batch of roster moves prior to tonight’s game. Catcher Austin Hedges was placed on the seven-day concussion injured list. Fellow catcher Tyler Heineman was selected to take his active roster spot. In order to open a spot for Heineman on the 40-man, right-hander Edwin Uceta was designated for assignment. Additionally, outfielder Ryan Vilade, who was designated for assignment last week, cleared waivers and was assigned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

Hedges, 30, has long been considered one of the game’s better defensive backstops, though he doesn’t provide much on offense. His career batting line of .189/.247/.330 amounts to a wRC+ of 54, indicating he’s been 46% below league average at the plate. But he’s racked up 75 Defensive Runs Saved since debuting in 2015, the highest total in the majors during that stretch. He signed with the Bucs in the offseason for one year and $5MM, a sensible match given that he could work with the rebuilding club’s young pitching staff.

It’s unclear exactly how Hedges sustained this concussion, but the club will have to proceed without him for at least the next week. Jason Delay is already on the roster and Heineman will now join him to form the club’s catching duo for the time being. Heineman, 32 in June, has 82 games of major league experience with a .214/.279/.276 batting line and +6 DRS. Both he and Delay have options, so either could be sent to the minors when Hedges returns.

Uceta, 25, has changed jerseys quite a few times in the past little while. The Pirates just claimed him off waivers from the Tigers two days ago, with the latter club claiming him off waivers from the Diamondbacks in January. He spent just one year in Arizona, as that club claimed him off waivers from the Dodgers at the end of the 2021 season. He posted a 5.82 ERA for the Snakes last year and a 4.86 mark for their Triple-A club. He only struck out 17.8% of hitters he faced in the big leagues but he had a 32.7% rate in the minors, though that came with a 14% walk rate. The Pirates will now have a week to trade him or try to pass him through waivers.

Vilade, who just turned 24 in February, has just seven plate appearances of experience in the big leagues, which came with the Rockies in 2021. He struck out once and walked once without recording a hit. A career .281/.357/.410 hitter in the minor leagues, Vilade has experience at each of shortstop, third base, first base, and the three outfield spots during his minor league career. In addition to his positional versatility, Vilade’s fairly low strikeout rate (17.4%) and solid walk rate (10.0%) in the minor leagues indicate a potentially valuable bench piece at the big league level, but for now he’ll wait for an opportunity with the Pirates at Triple-A. As a player with less than three years of big league service time who has not yet been outrighted in his career, Vilade cannot reject his outright assignment.

Pirates Designate Ryan Vilade For Assignment

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The Pirates announced Thursday that they’ve designated outfielder Ryan Vilade for assignment and selected the contracts of left-hander Rob Zastryzny and catcher Jason Delay, both of whom were in spring training as non-roster invitees. Lefty Jarlin Garcia (nerve injury) was placed on the 60-day injured list to open a second spot on the 40-man roster. Righties JT Brubaker (right elbow discomfort) and Robert Stephenson (right elbow inflammation) have both been placed on the 15-day injured list as well.

Vilade, 24, was claimed off waivers from the Rockies back in November. He ranked among Colorado’s best prospects just one year ago but struggled in his second go through the Triple-A level, slashing a tepid .249/.345/.352 with five homers and ten steals through 99 games in that hitter-friendly setting. Originally drafted as a shortstop, Vilade has moved down the defensive spectrum, first shifting to third base before a move to the outfield corners. He went just 3-for-18 without an extra-base hit this spring, finishing with a .167/.211/.167 line in 19 trips to the plate. The Pirates will have a week to trade Vilade, release him or pass him through outright waivers.

Zastryzny, 31, returned to the Majors in 2022 after a three-year layoff and tossed four innings between the Mets and Angels. He’s making the first Opening Day roster of his 10-year professional career, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic points out (Twitter link). Zastryzny earned it this spring, punching out 10 of his 29 opponents against one walk while firing 7 1/3 innings without allowing an earned run.

In parts of four big league seasons, mostly with the Cubs, Zastryzny has a 4.66 ERA and a 34-to-17 K/BB ratio in 38 2/3 innings of work. His Triple-A numbers across six seasons are generally similar, albeit with slightly better strikeout and walk rates. Zastryzny will give manager Derek Shelton a second lefty in the ’pen, joining Rule 5 pick Jose Hernandez.

Delay, 28, made his big league debut with the Bucs in 2022 but was removed from the 40-man roster and re-signed to a minor league deal. He had a rough showing in camp, going just 3-for-20 with three walks, but he’s a strong defensive backstop and likely landed the backup gig by virtue of his glove. Delay posted plus framing marks last season, has a career 31% caught-stealing rate in the minors and was credited with two Defensive Runs Saved in 436 innings behind the dish last year. He beat out fellow non-roster invitees Kevin Plawecki and Tyler Heineman and will open the season as the backup to defensive standout Austin Hedges.

Garcia’s placement on the 60-day IL comes as little surprise. The team announced he’d be shut down midway through camp, and after a ten days of not throwing, they further announced that he was dealing with a nerve injury in his biceps and would continue to be shut down for as many as four to five weeks. He’ll need to completely build back up after that delay. Stephenson pitched just two innings this spring and was slowed by elbow discomfort, and Shelton acknowledged last week that an IL stint was likely.

There’s more concern with regard to Brubaker. Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweeted this morning that Brubaker’s elbow injury is “not minor” and the Pirates fear there’s a chance he could be lost for the season. The team hasn’t provided a formal diagnosis or update beyond today’s placement on the injured list, but additional news on Brubaker will likely follow in the near future. The 29-year-old Brubaker made 28 starts last season and pitched to a 4.69 ERA but with much more encouraging marks in FIP (3.92) and SIERA (3.97).

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