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The Pirates have made a few waiver claims in the present day, per Justice delos Santos of MLB.com. They’ve grabbed catcher Zack Collins from the Blue Jays and reliever Junior Fernández from the Cardinals. Each gamers have been optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. The Bucs already opened up one 40-man roster spot earlier in the present day by designating infielder Josh VanMeter for project, however have opened one other by designating left-hander Cam Vieaux.
Collins, 27, was traded to the Blue Jays in early April, with fellow catcher Reese McGuire going to the White Sox. A part of the attraction of that commerce for the Jays was the truth that Collins was nonetheless optionable, the place McGuire wasn’t. As such, Collins has been bounced between the majors and the minors a couple of instances, with Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk getting the majority of the taking part in time within the bigs. Whereas within the majors, Collins has added a little bit of pop but additionally his share of strikeouts. He’s hit 4 dwelling runs in 26 video games, slashing .194/.266/.417 for a wRC+ of 93 whereas taking place on strikes in 39.2% of his plate appearances. In 36 Triple-A video games, he’s struck out 25.8% of the time however walked at an unimaginable 20.6% charge, producing a batting line of .195/.361/.398, wRC+ of 107.
For the Pirates, he could be optioned for the rest of this yr however will probably be out of choices subsequent season. The catching job in Pittsburgh is pretty broad open, as Roberto Perez was purported to be the on a regular basis man this yr till he required season-ending hamstring surgical procedure. There’s apparently mutual interest in a reunion, although he will probably be a free agent at season’s finish. In the meanwhile, rookie Jason Delay and journeyman Tyler Heineman are on the lively roster. Collins gained’t attain arbitration this winter and could be stored round cheaply so long as he continues to carry his roster spot.
Fernández, 25, joins a brand new group for the primary time, as he has spent his whole profession within the Cardinals’ system till now. He’s logged 50 2/3 innings of MLB motion over the previous 4 seasons, producing a 5.51 ERA in that point. Maybe his finest attribute is his capability to get batters to hit the ball into the bottom. He has a 49.4% floor ball charge in his time within the majors, together with a 60.4% charge this season. For context, the MLB league common is 42.8% this yr. Like Collins, he could be optioned for the remainder of this season however will probably be out of choices subsequent yr. He will even come up wanting arbitration this winter and could be stored round for years if the Pirates deem him worthy of a roster spot.
Extra to return.
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