Pittsburgh Pirates: Potential September Call Ups

Roansy Contreras

The second player I see the Pirates calling up is Roansy Contreras. Contreras struggled at the start of the season after what was a successful rookie campaign. Through Contreras’ first 68.1 innings of the year, he had a 6.59 ERA, 5.20 FIP, and 1.57 WHIP. He struggled so bad in May, that the Pirates demoted him to the bullpen, before eventually having to send him to the minor leagues to figure some things out.

Since getting optioned to the minor leagues, he hasn't done all that bad. In 18 innings, Contreras has allowed just five earned runs while striking out, but walking six and allowing three home runs. It’s a small sample size, however, and in two of Contreras’ minor league starts, he didn’t walk a single batter.

I feel that both Contreras and Wolf will be some of the first two to get considered because the Pirates need starting pitcher pronto. They really only have two starting pitchers, and are using Bailey Falter as a piggy-back starter. Getting another arm in the Major Leagues in the home stretch, even if the Pirates are out of contention, is something they need to do just so the bullpen isn’t being taxed so often.

Aside from Contreras and Wolf, there are some others I think you should at least keep in mind. Max Kranick is back in action, and I already wrote a piece on him. He’s another guy to keep in mind. Quinn Priester, Jared Triolo, and Nick Gonzales are others to keep on the back burner. If the Pirates call-up any of their top 100 prospects, it will be Jared Jones given he is at Triple-A. A position player to keep tabs on is first baseman Malcolm Nuñez since the Pirates’ 1B depth is thin as well.