Pittsburgh Pirates: Five Locks to Come off the 40-Man Roster

The Pittsburgh Pirates are facing a massive 40-man roster crunch this offseason which will lead to a 40-man roster purge

This offseason the Pittsburgh Pirates will face a 40-man roster crunch. There are at least 12-15 prospects the Pirates will want to add to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft.

There will also be the need to make room to the 40-man roster for offseason additions that the Pittsburgh Pirates make, as well as players who are activated off of the 60-day injured list. All told, the Pirates will have a lot of work to do with their 40-man roster this offseason.

While there will undoubtedly be tough decisions to be made for the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason, some 40-man roster decisions will be easy ones. This includes these five players who are locks to be removed from the 40-man roster.

Right-handed reliever Tanner Anderson

After making his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2018 righty Tanner Anderson returned to the black and gold in 2021. Prior to joining the Pirates in September the Harvard product pitched 36.2 innings in 17 games for Triple-A Indianapolis this season.

Anderson made just one appearance for the Pirates in September, pitching 5 innings. He allowed 2 runs on 5 hits, no walks and a strikeout in this outing. While Anderson pitched 5 strong innings in his lone outing in 2021, he will not be one of the first players removed from the 40-man roster this offseason.

Catcher Taylor Davis

Right-handed hitting catcher Taylor Davis has spent the majority of his professional career in the minor leagues. Most of this time was spent in the farm system of the Chicago Cubs. He has had limited MLB experience, however.

Davis made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 2017, and also played for the Cubs in 2018 and 2019. But, he did not play in the Majors n 2020. In fact, as part of the COVID season of 2020 Davis did not play in any professional games whatsoever. Following the season he landed with the Baltimore Orioles.

When the 2021 minor league season opened Davis found himself playing at the Triple-A level for Baltimore. On June 15th the Pittsburgh Pirates traded for Davis to add to the organization’s catcher depth.

During the month of September this depth was tested. When Jacob Stallings hit the 7-day injured list with a concussion it was Davis whose contract was purchased from Indianapolis. While Davis went 2-for-5 with a walk in 2021, he will be removed from the 40-man roster this offseason. Hell, odds are, the backup catcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2022 is not currently in the organization as Michael Perez also appears to be a safe bet to be removed from the 40-man roster.

Outfielder Jared Oliva

25-year-old outfielder Jared Oliva made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2020. The right-handed hitting outfielder went 3-for-16 with no walks, no extra base hits and 6 strikeouts in his 16 PAs in the Majors in September of 2020.

Oliva had risen to being a top-10 prospect in the Pirate farm system. Although, this rise did come as a bit of a surprise. While Oliva does a lot of things well, outside of his speed there is nothing he seems to be great at.

For most of the 2021 season Oliva was with the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians. In 43 PAs across 20 games played in the Majors, Olvia hit for a .175/.233/.225 slash line to go with a wRC+ of 20 and just a pair of doubles.

Throughout the 2021 season the Pirates were in need of outfield help, especially right-handed hitting outfield help. Despite this, Oliva was never given any sort of extended look at the Major League level. This most likely indicates that Pirate brass are not high on Oliva.

If Pirate brass is not high on Oliva this will spell his end with the organization. Look for that end to come this offseason.

Right-handed reliever Shea Spitzbarth

The 2021 season was good to Shea Spitzbarth. The career minor leaguer made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was also named the pitcher of the year for the Triple-A Indianapolis Indians.

With the Pirates the 27-year-old righty posted a 3.60 ERA and a 7.17 FIP in 5.0 innings pitched. Spitzbarth’s 5.0 innings pitched came in 5 relief appearances. In these 5.0 innings of work Spitzbarth allowed 2 runs on 4 hits, 2 walks, he hit a batter, allowed a home run and struck out 1.

While Spitzbarth’s story is a great one, it is not one that is long for the Majors. Spitzbarth surviving the offseason as a member of the 40-man roster of the Pittsburgh Pirates would be a surprise. AS the Pirates look to add players to their 40-man roster this offseason, odds are, Spitzbarth will be one of the first players removed from the 40-man.

For his own sake, and for the sake of the good story, hopefully, Spitzbarth impressed enough to lock on with another organization this offseason. Even if it’s as a minor league signing, Spitzbarth should surface in spring training for some team this spring.