Pittsburgh Pirates Activate Luis Oviedo, Option Him to Double-A

Prior to Monday afternoon’s game in Milwaukee the Pittsburgh Pirates activated pitcher Luis Oviedo off the IL and optioned him to Double-A Altoona

Right-handed pitcher Luis Oviedo made his MLB debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates during the 2021 season. This came after the Pirates traded for Oviedo during the Rule 5 Draft, Oviedo was acquired by the Pirates from the New York Mets after the Mets had selected Oviedo from the then Cleveland Indians.

While he pitched sparingly at times, Oviedo did spend the entire season the active roster of the Pittsburgh Pirates. This meant that the team could retain Oviedo and did not have to work out a trade with Cleveland in order to keep him in the organization.

This spring Oviedo did not appear in a single Grapefruit League game. This led to him starting the season on the 10-day injured list with a right ankle sprain. Oviedo would go on to make three rehab outings. He pitched 2.1 innings in a pair of outings with Low-Bradenton and then pitched a third of an inning in a rehab outing with Altoona.

In Oviedo’s 2.2 rehab innings pitched he allowed 1 run on a hit, 3 walks and he struck a batter out. Now, the Pirates have announced that Oviedo’s rehab assignment has been completed. With his rehab assignment complete Oviedo has been activated off the 10-day IL and optioned to Double-A Altoona.

It will be interesting to see how the Pirates use Oviedo this season. He always worked as a starter in the minor leagues and at one point was a top 10 prospect in a Cleveland farm system that was deep with pitching talent.

Last season Oviedo pitched in 22 games for the Pirates with 21 coming out of the bullpen. While he flashed what made him a highly touted prospect at one point, he also had plenty of struggles posting a 8.80 ERA, 5.66 FIP, 17.7% walk rate and a 21.1% strikeout rate in 29.2 innings pitched.

Moving forward it would not be a surprise to see Oviedo make starts for the Curve. He is still just 22-years-old and has plenty of time to continue to grow and develop ahead of him. Oviedo could still have a very bright future with the Pirates.