Pirates make Tommy Pham addition official with crucial injury update as corresponding move

Spring training is underway, and the new face in the outfield is finally in Pirate City. The Pirates announced the signing of Tommy Pham for one year worth $4 million for 2025. This news has been public knowledge for a while, yet it was not made official until Sunday night.

To make this happen, the Pirates needed to make room on the 40-man roster, space that is usually created by designating a player for assignment. This time, though, Pittsburgh chose to put Dauri Moreta on the 60-day injured list, which is the update many fans were looking for regarding his rehab process from Tommy John surgery.

He suffered the injury to his elbow during a spring training appearance last year, ending any chance of playing in 2024. It was very disappointing at the time, as he was in place to be a major piece of the bullpen, but the Pirates were forced to rely elsewhere for the production he was set to provide.

Now that it is nearly a year after his surgery, we have a big update moving forward on the right-hander. He is throwing bullpens, but he is not close to facing live batters, according to Ben Cherington. He may face hitters later in spring training, but for now, he will not be doing so. That is not a red flag, but rather is where they anticipated him to be at this point.

Fans get an update in Dauri Moreta following the Pirates' corresponding move for the Tommy Pham addition.

So the way it looks now, Moreta will be back in the Pirates bullpen around midseason. If all goes well, that would be a very strong reinforcement at a time where the Pirates bullpen fell apart in 2024.

Back in 2023, Moreta posted a 3.72 ERA with a FIP of 2.93 across 58 innings and struck out 76. Opponents batted .184 against him and he walked hitters at a 10% clip to generate a WHIP of 1.09.

Getting those numbers back in the Pirates bullpen would be huge, especially if they can battle their way into playoff contention this season. Moreta's health is very important to the Pirates, especially given that he can pitch in big situations like he did back in 2023. They'll ease him back into the mix, but everything currently remains on schedule.