Nick

Yorke

Yorke put the Pirates on the board with a solo blast off Luis Morales in the second inning for his first home run of the season through 15 games. He later added a base hit in the fourth. The 23-year-old infielder is hitting .217/.250/.326 over 48 plate appearances.

After a good month of August, Reynolds has started slow in September, hitting just .200 in 14 games with one home run and 17 strikeouts. He’ll take a break with Nick Yorke moving from second base to right field, Nick Gonzales playing second base, and Cam Devanney in the lineup at third base.

With the Orioles starting left-hander Cade Povich, the Pirates will put Cruz and Spencer Horwitz on the bench while also giving a day off to Henry Davis and Cam Devanney. Joey Bart, Liover Peguero, Nick Yorke, and Alexander Canario will enter the starting lineup. Cruz is hitting just .200 on the season, but also has a .105/.233/.181 slash line against lefties, so there’s a strong argument that he should simply be a strong side platoon bat. That should drastically impact his fantasy value in 2026.

Yorke returns to the majors for the first time this season as a September call-up ahead of Tuesday’s series opener against the Dodgers. The 23-year-old notable prospect got into 11 contests last year and has spent the entire season at Triple-A Indianapolis, slashing .287/.348/.406 with seven homers and 17 steals in 103 games. He needs to start putting the ball in the air more often if he’s going to make an impact at the highest level, but he’s talented enough to be fantasy-relevant at some point down the road.

Yorke, who was acquired last season from the Red Sox for Quinn Priester, has been heating up over the last few weeks and is slashing .326/.351/.438 in August with one home run, 15 RBI, 15 runs scored, and four steals. He probably deserves a shot at MLB at-bats to end the season.

And trade season is officially underway with Frazier being dealt for INF prospect Cam Devanney. Frazier had started only one game for the Pirates in July and was used as a pinch hitter in five more, so his role was already being reduced. The veteran was 19-for-70 (.271) from June 1 on with one home run, eight runs scored and seven RBI while playing mainly outfield for the Pirates. This could open up more opportunities in the outfield for Alexander Canario or perhaps give the Pirates room to call Nick Yorke up from Triple-A, unless Devanney is brought up right away. Frazier will likely be a left-handed bat off the bench for the Royals and could potentially be a bad sign for the health of Michael Massey, who was hit by a pitch in the hand during his rehab assignment last week.

Yorke has now homered in two straight games with hits in five straight and seven of his last eight. The 23-year-old hit .279/.347/.372 in June with one home run, 14 RBI and two steals. The Pirates could move on from veterans like Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier at the deadline, which could finally open up some MLB at-bats for Yorke.

Yorke was acquired from Boston at last year’s trade deadline for Quinn Priester, so the Pirates are probably not thrilled about how well Priester has looked after overhauling his arsenal in Boston this offseason. Yorke is slashing .276/.346/.374 with four home runs and 11 steals in 64 games in Triple-A this season. At some point, he probably deserves a look in Pittsburgh.

Neither Cook or Yorke did enough to earn a spot on the Pittsburgh bench, but both could be up-and-down options for the Pirates depending on how others perform and/or injuries. Yorke is still worth keeping an eye on in keeper leagues.

Yorke replaced Nick Gonzales at second base today. He’s supposed to be working out at first, but the Pirates had to use Adam Frazier there in this one. It’s kind of crazy that the Pirates did next to nothing to get better offensively over the winter and yet still seemingly have blocked Yorke from the major league roster. Perhaps he will sneak in if Spencer Horwitz opens up on the IL, and it would be no surprise if he proves to be one of the team’s better hitters right away.