The Pirates have added right-hander Luis Ortiz to the team's taxi squad, presumably to make a start Tuesday against the Rockies, and selected the contract of veteran utilityman Chris Owings.
Utilityman Mark Mathias was optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis to make room on the major-league roster for Owings.
Ortiz, 24, is regarded as the Pirates' top pitching prospect, according to Baseball America. He has done quite well in his first month with Indianapolis, going 2-1 with a 2.23 ERA over 32 1/3 innings. He was named the Indians' player of the month in April.
It's not yet known how long Ortiz's stint in the majors will be. Starter Vince Velasquez was placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation this weekend, opening up a hole in the rotation. However, the Pirates have an abundance of off-days in the month of May, so they could theoretically operate under a four-man rotation with everyone still at full rest until May 24, assuming Ortiz makes that start Tuesday.
"The anticipation is that he will start tomorrow," Derek Shelton said Monday afternoon.
Ben Cherington reiterated that he expects Velasquez's injury to be shorter term when he spoke with reporters Monday afternoon at PNC Park.
"Still optimistic, but nothing new," Cherington said. "He's presenting really well physically. I think we've gotten all the information we can get at this point and we’re putting together a plan with him. (Todd Tomczyk) will get into the details of that Wednesday, but hopeful and optimistic that he'll be able to start a progression pretty soon."
Ortiz came into spring training focused on improving his changeup so he can have a true three-pitch mix to go with his slider and high-90s fastball. He burst onto the team's pitching scene a year ago, making the jump from low Class A Bradenton in 2021 to the majors in September of last season, where he recorded a 4.50 ERA over 16 innings with 17 strikeouts.
There is plenty of intrigue regarding Ortiz. He's got the kind of stuff that raises questions of why he's in Indianapolis instead of Pittsburgh. Based on precedent, the Pirates wouldn't be so quick to call up a young, exciting prospect prior to mid-June to control their major league service time. The club could have gone with multiple options, including another minor league pitcher or some sort of bullpen day or non-traditional plan such as an opener or piggyback situation. However, Ortiz was the primary plan for Velasquez's spot in the rotation, and has been for a few days.
"We did consider more than one option," Cherington explained. "We chose to move Ortiz’s day up in Indy last week to keep all of those options open. Once we did that as we got deeper in the weekend. We felt this was the best way to go. We felt that he was ready and will be ready. He'll have a little shorter rest, so we will think about the pitch count tomorrow. From there, there is no restriction after that. Given where all of the pitchers were, that putting a bullpen day on the team (Tuesday) wasn’t the best choice. Doesn’t mean we wouldn’t do that at some point, the timing just didn’t work."
Owings, 31, had a strong spring training while competing for a bench job, but ultimately fell short. He had an opt-out in his minor-league contract, but decided to not exercise it and instead go to the Pirates' top affiliate in case an opportunity opened up.
"Coming into spring training, the opportunity was there," Owings said Monday afternoon. "I played hard, played well. That was kind of our meeting, just go down and keep doing what you were doing. It was nice to some back last week off the injured list. I'm feeling healthy, feeling good. Just excited to be back and get an opportunity to play. The team's played well so far. They've hit a little bit of a skid, but I'm just excited to be a part of it."
The Pirates will be the sixth team Owings has played for in his 11-year major-league career. In that time, he has slashed .239/.287/.366 with 37 home runs and 220 RBIs, with most of his value coming from defensive versatility, where he can play every position besides catcher and first base. And while it's a small sample size of just 50 plate appearances, thanks to a minor groin injury, he has hit .273 with an .883 OPS with Indianapolis this season.
He primarily played shortstop with Indianapolis. The Pirates have struggled to find a good defensive replacement at shortstop in the absence of Oneil Cruz, with Rodolfo Castro getting the majority of the reps there but making six errors in total, including three in his last four games.
"The ability to play shortstop was something that was important to us," Shelton said on why Owings was chosen for the call up. "We wanted to make sure we gave ourselves more functionality. We had to wait for [Owings] to get off the IL. He was on the IL down there, then get back and play."
The Pirates outrighted Drew Maggi off of the 40 man roster last week once he was returned to Class AA Altoona, so they do not need to open up a roster spot for Owings.
Mathias provided the Pirates decent offensive numbers in his time with the team, posting a .370 on-base percentage over his 15 games played, but he made three errors and was worth -3 defensive runs saved at second base. He also has very little experience at shortstop, which is an area of need at the moment.
The Pirates are still intrigued by Mathias, but ideally want him to play more often in a role that's better suited for him. Simply put, that doesn't align with the club's current needs.
"There are some things that specifically we thought, with consistent playing time, that Mark could work on," Shelton explained. "Because it wasn’t consistent playing time here."
