The Pirates are trading the leaders of their rotation and bullpen to the Cardinals, sending José Quintana and Chris Stratton to their National League Central rivals for right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo and minor-league corner infielder Malcolm Nuñez.
The Pirates and Cardinals announced the trade late Monday night.
Quintana was the most likely Pirates player to be dealt this deadline given his good results and expiring contract. In 20 starts this season, he recorded a 3.50 ERA over 103 innings with 89 strikeouts and a 1.27 WHIP.
It was a terrific bounce back campaign for the veteran lefty, who struggled last year with the Angels and Giants. The Pirates offered him a modest one-year, $2 million contract in November, with the main perk being they would give him another opportunity to start. With a revised pitch mix, leaning on the changeup more, he proved he could still be a productive big-league starter.
He also emerged as a clubhouse and rotation leader for a young pitching staff.
"Q came in advertised really good and he's better than advertised," Derek Shelton said before his final start with the Pirates Friday. "The thing that really stands out for me, is not even the conversations he has, it's just the way he goes about it every day. You watch it, the focus, the intent to throw strikes, how he takes care of his body, how he prepares. When you have a young group of pitchers, sometimes almost watching by osmosis is as important as what they say. And I think what stands out with Q is, he prepares like a professional every day."
Trading Stratton seemed like a possibility coming into July, but the one question was would the Pirates deal him during a down year. After recording three straight sub-4.00 ERA seasons with the Pirates after being acquired in May of 2019, Stratton has stumbled this year, going 5-4 with a 5.09 ERA over 40 2/3 innings.
While some of his peripherals were encouraging, he had a hard time closing out leverage situations, blowing five saves compared to eight holds and two saves.
Despite those struggles, Stratton, the team's longest tenured major-league pitcher, was a positive voice in the clubhouse, and someone David Bednar in particular latched onto the last two seasons.
In return for those two veteran pitchers, the Pirates are getting Oviedo, who has bounced between the majors and minors the last three seasons, as well as getting extended looks in the rotation and out of the bullpen. The 24-year-old righty is 2-1 with a 3.20 ERA over 25 1/3 innings in the majors this year, almost exclusively out of the bullpen. With the Cardinals' Class AAA affiliate as a starter, he is 4-2 with a 5.58 ERA over 50 innings pitched.
He has a four pitch mix, but leans primarily on a four-seam fastball that averages 95.6 mph and a high spin slider, which averages nearly 2,600 RPM of spin. He will also throw a lower spin curve that doesn't get much vertical movement and a changeup.
Oviedo has one more option year remaining after this season. In his major-league career, he has recorded a 4.65 ERA over 33 appearances -- 19 of them starts -- and 112 1/3 innings.
Nuñez, 21, has split time between first and third base for the Cardinals' Class AA affiliate, but the 5'11, 205 lb. right-hander is probably destined to be a designated hitter. He's shown good plate discipline, walking 13.7% of the time this year, and power, launching 17 home runs in 85 games. FanGraphs' scouting projections give him positive future grades for his hit and power tools, so there is a chance he could one day hit his way onto a major-league roster.
Nuñez was ranked by Baseball America as the Cardinals' No. 13 prospect. He is Rule 5 eligible this winter, so the Pirates will need to either add him to their 40-man roster in November or risk losing him.
A league source indicated to DK Pittsburgh Sports last week that the Pirates were seeking upper-level, more major-league ready pitching this trade deadline. Oviedo certainly fits that bill, though it's not yet known if he will be used as a starter or a reliever with his new club.
Stratton had transitioned to more middle relief of late, with Wil Crowe unofficially inheriting his leverage spot this season.
This is the second trade the Pirates have made this deadline, the first coming July 22 when they traded designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach for right-handed reliever Colin Holderman. Holderman has yet to make his major-league debut with his new team because he was optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis.
It seems likely that Holderman will be joining the major-league team soon as part of the roster changes Ben Cherington alluded to this past weekend. The Pirates' roster is currently at 39 players.
The trade deadline is 6 p.m. Tuesday.
