Pittsburgh Pirates Option Roansy Contreras to Triple-A

The latest round of spring training roster cuts by the Pittsburgh Pirates included optioning their top pitching prospect to Triple-A

It is a move that everyone knew was coming. That said, it does not make it any less of an unpopular move among fans. Saturday afternoon the Pittbsurgh Pirates optioned top pitching prospect Roansy Contreras to Triple-A.

Contreras being optioned to Triple-A highlight Saturday’s roster moves. In addition to optioning Contreras, four other players were re-assigned to minor league camp.

Of the players re-assigned to minor league camp the most notable was reliever Yerry De Los Santos. Had there been a Rule 5 Draft this season De Los Santos would have been exposed and there’s a strong possibility he would have been selected. Odds are De Los Santos will make his MLB debut at some point this season.

Last season Contreras dominated in the minors. Although he was limited to just 12 starts at Double-A due to injury he posted a 2.65 ERA and a 2.74 FIP in 54.1 innings pitched. He allowed just 5 home runs, walked 6.3% of batters faced and struck out batters at a 37.5% clip.

He then made one start each at Triple-A and for the Pirates in September. In his Triple-A start Contreras allowed a run on 4 hits while striking out 6 batters in 3.2 innings pitched. He pitched 3 scoreless innings while striking out 4 in his MLB debut.

Contreras is likely the best starting pitcher the Pirates currently have. Alas, he will start the year at Triple-A due to service time rules. It is safe to say that Contreras will not be a Triple-A long before joining a Pirate rotation that he could be the anchor of for at least the next 5+ seasons.

With these moves the Pittsburgh Pirates are now down to 48 players in MLB camp. They will need to trim their roster to 28 players by Opening Day. This gives the team 12 days to trim 20 more players from the group that remains in MLB camp.