Jason

Delay

Capra was in Red Sox camp as a non-roster invitee and failed to land a spot on the club’s season-opening roster in a bench role. Delay is merely emergency catching depth while Guerrero and Keller could be up as stopgap relief options at some point later this year.

Delay was competing for a backup spot, but is behind both Connor Wong and Matt Thaiss at this point. The Red Sox will see if they can keep the 31-year-old in the organization as minor league depth.

Delay has spent most of his career with the Pirates, hitting .231 with 35 RBI in 134 games. In 2025, he spent the entire season in Triple-A with the Braves, slashing .215/.282/.256/.538 line in 60 games. He’ll look to earn a job in spring training as organizational depth.

The 30-year-old backstop will hit the open market after hitting a paltry .200/.261/.257 with one homer and 14 RBI in 251 minor league plate appearances for the Braves in 2025. He’ll look to secure a minor league deal elsewhere with an invitation to major league camp where he’ll be afforded the opportunity to compete for a reserve role.

The procedural move frees up a spot on Atlanta’s 40-man roster for veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco. The 30-year-old backstop was acquired from the Pirates in a small trade back in early April.

Delay had been designated for assignment by the Pirates earlier in the week, so they were willing to flip him for anything they could get. Given the Braves’ injuries behind the plate, the 30-year-old backstop will add some solid organizational depth. He’ll report to Double-A Columbus.

Delay spent much of 2022 and ’23 as the Pirates’ backup catcher before being supplanted last year. He had a chance to get the job back this spring, but the Pirates went with Endy Rodríguez instead, and they’re feeling confident enough about their younger guys to risk losing some catching depth here. Delay is a career .231/.299/.315 hitter in 373 plate appearances. He’s a fine defender and has options, so with catching always at a premium, someone will probably stash him away.

No surprises here as Pittsburgh pares down its spring roster to just 42 players. The decision to jettison Delay leaves some combination of Joey Bart, Henry Davis and Endy Rodríguez as the likely season-opening catching mix behind the plate.

Davis is 7-for-26 with two homers as he tries to beat out Endy Rodríguez and Jason Delay for a job behind Joey Bart. Both Davis and Rodríguez have spent all their time either catching or DHing this spring, which would seem to indicate that there’s no chance of the Pirates carrying one with the intention of giving him time at another position. It still probably makes the most sense to go with Delay and let Davis and Rodríguez play regularly in Triple-A initially.

Delay is heading back to Indianapolis with Joey Bart activated off the injured list. The 29-year-old backstop will remain organizational depth available if needed if there’s another injury for Pittsburgh behind the plate.