Pittsburgh Pirates Make Four Roster Moves

The Pittsburgh Pirates are now one step closer to finalizing their Opening Day roster

On Saturday morning, the Pittsburgh Pirates made four roster moves. The team optioned outfielder Jordan Luplow and catcher Jacob Stallings to Triple-A, while also reassigning pitchers Tyler Jones and Richard Rodriguez to minor league camp.

None of these moves come as a major surprise, although Luplow had made a strong push this spring to make the team as their fifth bench player. However, due to him having minor league options left, it always seemed likely that Luplow would start the season at Triple-A.

Jordan Luplow burst onto the scene last season by raking at both Double-A and Triple-A. This led to him getting the first 87 plate appearances of his Major League career last year. In these 87 plate appearances he posted a .276 on-base percentage, a .284 wOBA, and a wRC+ of 72. He also hit 3 home runs and had a .179 ISO as his power carried over from the minor leagues.

Now that Luplow has been optioned to Triple-A, the battle for the final Pirate bench spot is between Bryce Brentz and Jose Osuna. It remains possible though that the team will start the season with just four bench players and an extra pitcher. You can read more about that here.

If the Pirates take the full allotment of five bench players it appears that it will be Brentz due to him being out of minor league options while Osuna is not out of options.

Next: Pirates Set Rotation For Detroit

With these moves, the Pittsburgh Pirates now have 33 players remaining in Major League camp. The team has until Thursday to trim their roster down to 25. However, odds are, that will take place before the team departs Bradenton on Wednesday.