Pittsburgh

Pirates

Cruz sat out Sunday’s series finale against the Braves after suffering a cut on his hand while sliding into home plate earlier in the series. He’s day-to-day heading into Tuesday’s series opener against the Dodgers.

It didn’t take Marte long to find a new opportunity after electing free agency last week. The 31-year-old reliever was removed from Cincinnati’s roster following one appearance. He’ll function as organizational depth for Pittsburgh at Triple-A Indianapolis.

It turns out that Griffin is dealing with a “flexor mass muscle strain,” which means the location of his injury has changed. Cherington said that, given the exact spot of the injury, the team is going to be more cautious with their top prospect’s return. On the positive side, Griffin is asymptomatic at this point, but there are no further details about his return other than that it will be a bit longer than originally expected.

Chandler struck out seven and walked two while pitching in bulk relief. Despite entering after an opener, he logged his longest outing since April 17. The Pirates recently bumped Carmen Mlodzinski from the rotation when Jared Jones came back, so Chandler needs to keep pitching like this to hold his spot. His next start lines up for a favorable matchup at home against Miami.

Horwitz delivered some of the only offense Pittsburgh could muster against Bryce Elder. The first baseman has now led off against 12 consecutive right-handed pitchers, notable considering the Pirates entered Sunday ranked fourth in runs per game. Horwitz has more walks than strikeouts this season and makes for a nice batting average play in roto when combined with non-zero power and a premium lineup slot.

It looks to be just a routine day off for the dynamic 27-year-old outfielder. Jake Mangum will start in his place in center field and will bat seventh for the Pirates against Braves’ right-hander Bryce Elder.

Nothing has changed in the prognosis for Devenski who has been shelved since early May due to an illness. This was done as a procedural move to free up a spot on the Pirates’ 40-man roster for the addition of Davis Wendzel on Sunday.

With Brandon Lowe (leg) expected to miss a couple of games, Wendzel will provide the Pirates with extra depth on the infield. It’s the first trip to the big leagues for the 29-year-old infielder since he saw 49 plate appearances with the Rangers during the 2024 campaign. Wendzel was slashing .246/.360/.491 with nine homers, 34 RBI and a pair of stolen bases in 211 plate appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis.

The 23-year-old slugger struggled in his limited action with the Pirates, hitting .200 (7-for-35) with no homers, two RBI and a 10/1 K/BB ratio in 37 plate appearances. He’ll continue to refine his craft in an everyday role at the Triple-A level. The Pirates selected the contract of Davis Wendzel from Triple-A Indianapolis in a corresponding move on Sunday.

Lowe was pulled from Saturday’s game after he fouled a ball off of his leg in the ninth inning. The 31-year-old slugger told reporters on Sunday that he believes he avoided any serious injuries and is optimistic that he’ll be able to return to the lineup in a couple of days. As of now, it seems like he’ll be able to avoid a trip to the injured list after the scary situation on Saturday night.