While the Pirates have made a habit in recent weeks of promoting first-round picks, they may have cut ties with one on Monday.
To make room on their 40-man roster for Quinn Priester, the Pirates designated 2018 first-round pick Travis Swaggerty for assignment.
The move comes as a surprise after the strong spring Swaggerty enjoyed and also the fact that he played five games with the big club last year. The left-handed-hitting outfielder seemed likely to get another shot this season, assuming he could get healthy.
Swaggerty, who had been on a rehab assignment with High-A Greensboro, was experiencing debilitating migraines that often crept up at night, limiting him to just 22 games this season, during which he hit .195 and had a .647 OPS.
This followed a Grapefruit League season where Swaggerty was one of the Pirates’ top hitters, competing with Canaan Smith-Njigba for one of the last spots on the roster.
It’s another bit of tough news for Swaggerty and his family, as Travis recently announced his wife, Peyton, had been diagnosed with a blood disease after an attack by a rabid raccoon. Peyton Swaggerty had previously battled thyroid cancer amid the family’s lengthy list of health problems.
From a baseball perspective, the Pirates viewed the move as necessary to open space on the 40-man roster, and there have been other outfielders in the system who have passed Swaggerty on the depth chart.
The Pirates could also be hedging their bets that nobody will pick up Swaggerty given the uncertainty surrounding his health situation, though often the first time a team DFAs a first-round pick, that player is claimed.
Among other pregame moves the Pirates announced, Jason Delay, Cody Bolton and Josh Palacios were optioned to Triple-A to make room on the roster for Priester, Endy Rodriguez and Liover Peguero.
Rare battery
A catcher and pitcher making their MLB debuts in the same night obviously doesn’t happen very often. In fact, it hasn’t happened for the Pirates since Cookie Cuccurullo started with Hank Camelli behind the plate against the Phillies on Oct. 3, 1943.
The last major league team to do this was the Toronto Blue Jays, with pitcher Sean Reid-Foley and catcher Danny Jansen at Kansas City on Aug. 13, 2018.
The last time it happened in the National League involved the Reds, with Tyler Mahle throwing to Chad Wallach on Aug. 27, 2017, in Pittsburgh.
Age-wise, Priester (Sept. 15, 2000) and Rodriguez (May 26, 2000) together mark the first time a starting pitcher-catcher combo featured two birthdays in the year 2000 or later.
Draft signees
The Pirates inked contracts with three more draft picks Monday evening, upping the total of selections to sign from the 2023 MLB Draft to seven. The highest selected to put pen to paper was third-round selection Garret Forrester, a third baseman out of Oregon State.
In addition to Forrester, the Pirates signed eighth-round pick Austin Strickland, a right-hander out of Kentucky, and Charles McAdoo, a second baseman from San Jose State. Forrester, Strickland and McAdoo will all report to the Florida Complex League.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and Twitter @JMackeyPG.
First Published: July 17, 2023, 10:57 p.m.
