The Pirates introduced Thursday that they’ve positioned right-hander Colin Holderman on the 15-day IL with a proper wrist sprain, chosen the contract of righty Ben Heller from Triple-A Indianapolis and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating outfielder Edward Olivares for project.
Olivares, 28, was acquired from the Royals within the offseason when Kansas Metropolis wanted to open a roster spot after signing right-hander Chris Stratton. Olivares had certified for arbitration for the primary time and he agreed keep away from arbitration by accepting a $1.35MM wage from the Pirates.
Sadly, his tenure in Pittsburgh was a bit lower than what the membership was anticipating. He had slashed .270/.322/.439 with the Royals over 2022 and 2023 for a mixed wRC+ of 106 in that point however he hit .270/.322/.439 with the Pirates this yr, with that manufacturing resulting in a wRC+ of 75. He was optioned to Triple-A a couple of month in the past and is hitting .245/.305/.321 at that stage for a wRC+ of simply 64.
He’s in his last possibility season and will probably be out of choices subsequent yr. Between that and his efficiency, it appears he was getting pushed out of the membership’s plans. They fortified their outfield combine by buying Bryan De La Cruz and utility participant Isiah Kiner-Falefa previous to the deadline.
With the commerce deadline now prior to now, the Pirates must put Olivares on waivers within the coming days. It’s attainable {that a} membership might view this yr’s downturn as merely dangerous luck, as his batting common on balls in play is simply .250 this yr. That’s a drop from the .306 BABIP he had over the 2 prior seasons and this yr’s .290 league common. His 8.2% stroll price this yr was truly a noticeable improve from the 5.7% price he had within the two previous campaigns. His exit velocity and onerous hit price are down a bit however not drastically so. His velocity and arm power are above common however he’s acquired poor defensive grades general.
If some staff does put in a declare, Olivares will be optioned for the remainder of this yr after which retained past this season by way of arbitration. However as talked about, he will probably be out of choices by subsequent yr. If he clears waivers within the coming days, he may have the suitable to elect free company as a participant with greater than three years of service time. However since he’s beneath the five-year mark, heading to the open market would imply forfeiting what’s left of this yr’s wage. With roughly $375K nonetheless to be paid out, he would probably settle for an outright project and follow the Bucs in a non-roster capability.
