Pittsburgh Pirates: Three 40-Man Roster Moves That Need Made

Remove Heath Hembree

Heath Hembree signed a one-year deal worth just over $2 million this past off-season. After a handful of solid campaigns in the Boston Red Sox’s bullpen, Hembree struggled mightily in 2020 and 2021. The right-handed reliever had a 6.43 ERA, 5.45 FIP, and 1.34 WHIP between the two seasons. Hembree looked to regain what made him Boston’s second most used reliever from 2015 through 2019, but it’s clear he hasn’t been what the Pirates wanted.

He’s pitched 16.1 innings allowing 13 earned runs on five home runs. Not only has he been extremely home run prone, but he’s allowed 14 walks, two more than his strikeout total of 12. Mixing a ton of walks with a ton of home runs is like mixing gasoline and fire; it can only end in so many ways. He’s yet to pitch a single inning without allowing a walk or hit.

Add Cody Bolton

How much longer will it be until we see Cody Bolton in the Major Leagues? Bolton was a sixth-round pick by the Pirates back in 2017. He steadily climbed prospect rankings until he was one of the team’s best pitching prospects but suffered many setbacks in his journey to the majors. Bolton showed some wear in the second half of 2019 and missed a few starts. Then there was no 2020 minor league season, and then missed all of 2021 because of a meniscus tear. It was really hard to expect what Bolton would do this season, but he’s come back with a quality campaign so far at Indianapolis.

In 41.1 innings, Bolton has a 3.05 ERA, 3.45 FIP, and 1.19 WHIP. Although Bolton’s walk rate of 12.8% isn’t going to wow anyone, he has a well above average 26.7% strikeout rate and has allowed a single home run. Although Bolton does have a 4.75 xFIP, you can’t deny that Bolton has been successful so far this year. The Pirates need a quality arm now that Thompson is out for two weeks, so why can’t it be Bolton?