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Pittsburgh Pirates Swept By St. Louis Cardinals as Woeful Play Continues

By Marty Leap

PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 22: Juan Yepez #36 of the St. Louis Cardinals leans back to avoid a pitch thrown by Bryse Wilson #32 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second inning during the game at PNC Park on May 22, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
PITTSBURGH, PA - MAY 22: Juan Yepez #36 of the St. Louis Cardinals leans back to avoid a pitch thrown by Bryse Wilson #32 of the Pittsburgh Pirates in the second inning during the game at PNC Park on May 22, 2022 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images) /
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ST LOUIS, MO – APRIL 09: Roansy Contreras #59 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on April 9, 2022 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO – APRIL 09: Roansy Contreras #59 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on April 9, 2022 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

It’s time for a roster shakeup

The 2022 season was also supposed to be about the future. Well, the Pittsburgh Pirates have not done enough to make it about the future. It is beyond time for that to change, and that needs to change wit ha flurry of roster moves.

Heath Hembree has been awful this season and Tyler Beede is just a warm body eating innings out of the bullpen. With both of them out of options and neither having a future in Pittsburgh, both should be designated for assignment to create roster spots for young relievers Yerry De Los Santos and Cam Alldred.

Josh VanMeter and Yoshi Tsutsugo are two other players having terrible seasons for the Pirates, as well as being two players who do not have a long-term future with the organization. They should both join Hembree and Beede o the DFA train, leading to Cal Mitchell being added to the 40-man/active roster and Oneil Cruz being promoted to take over as the team’s shortstop.

That brings us to Roansy Contreras. There is zero reason for the next start Contreras makes to be at the Triple-A level. Especially since the Pirate rotation has been abysmal this season outside of José Quintana, Zach Thompson this month, and JT Brubaker outside of his first two starts of the season. It’s time to get Contreras on the active roster and into the starting rotation.

First baseman Mason Martin should also be added to the roster. He can platoon at first base with Chavis, who can play elsewhere as we mentioned above against right-handed pitching, and be given an opportunity to see if his plus power can player in the majors.

Adding these players to the active roster would do a lot of positives for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Not only would they improve the overall quality and talent of their MLB roster, it would also give fans hope. It would lead to six other players who could be part of the next contender in Pittsburgh to begin to showcase what they can do in the majors. At this point there is zero reason not to make these roster moves.

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