What Roster Moves Should The Pittsburgh Pirates Make Today?

The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to make at least two roster moves prior to this afternoon’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers. What should these moves be?

Prior to Saturday afternoon’s 4:10 first pitch against the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates will have to make at least two roster moves. The team announced on Friday that outfielder Corey Dickerson and infielder Jung Ho Kang will both be activated off the injured list on Saturday.

In addition, after Rookie Davis pitched just 3 innings on Friday night and both Nick Kingham and Geoff Hartlieb had to pitch multiple innings, the Pirates may have to add a reliever to their bullpen as well. So, what should be the roster moves that the Pirates make today? This is not a prediction of what is to come, but rather a look at what they should do.

First off, to make room for Dickerson and Kang on the roster utility man Jose Osuna should be optioned to Triple-A while Kingham gets designated for assignment. Osuna has just 17 plate appearances for the Pirates this season and he’s hit a home run and two doubles. However, he has minor league options remaining making him an easy choice to be optioned.

As for Kingham, at this point he provides nothing of value to the team. He owns a 9.61 ERA, 5.40 FIP, and is allowing 1.82 HR/9 in 34 2/3 innings pitched. Getting Kingham off this roster is a move that is overdue.

By sending out a pitcher to help make room for Dickerson and Kang, the Pirates would have a full five man bench. This would be the first time in over a month that the Pirates would carry a full bench.

In addition to these two moves, the Pirates should reinforce the bullpen. This reinforcement should be Montana DuRapau. In 8 2/3 innings pitched for the Pirates this season DuRapau has walked three batters and struck out 11. He’s allowed 7 earned runs, but 4 of them came in one outing. While with the Pirates, DuRapau looked like he belonged.

To make room for DuRapau, Davis should be optioned back to Triple-A. While this would temporarily leave the Pirate rotation short an arm, that is something the team can address when Davis spot comes up again on Wednesday in Atlanta.

This start should  go to top prospect Mitch Keller. On Wednesday, they could then option a pitcher back to Triple-A to make room for Keller.

No matter what, the Pirates will make at least two roster moves on Saturday. Make sure to stay tuned both here on the site, as well as following us on Twitter and Facebook throughout the day for info on whatever roster moves occur.