Weekly Report: Pitching Fuels Strong Home Stand; Rehab Guys Almost Ready, Auditions Begin, Pirates HoF, Minor News & Other Stuff

Home sweet home… 

Pirates Stuff: 

• RHP Jose Oviedo took advantage of his brief return to Indy and was recalled Wednesday to start against the Jays. LHP Evan Sisk was optioned back to Indy to open a spot, although he was here long enough to post his first MLB win.
• RHP Bubba Chandler got his ticket to Pittsburgh on Friday, and will take the same route as the other young starters called up, a seat in the pen as a long man/spot starter while getting used to the show. RHP Chase Shugart was optioned to Indy.

Bubba Chandler – 8/22/2025 OptaStat photo

• Oneil Cruz (concussion) began his rehab assignment on Saturday at Altoona. The Curve get a golden opp to showcase a Cruz/Konnor Griffin pairing, still at best a year or two away from happening at PNC Park.
• After long layoffs (both went on the IL in April), LHP Tim Mayza (shoulder) and RHP Justin Lawrence (elbow) began rehab stints on Tuesday at Lo-A Bradenton.
• No one claimed DFA’ed LHP Ryan Borucki and he’s now a free agent.
• Since saves became an official stat in 1969, Bubba Chandler is the first Pirate to earn a save in his MLB debut on Friday. He is also one of just four MLB pitchers to earn a four-inning save in his first outing.
• Pittsburgh pitchers have spun 16 shutouts so far this year to lead MLB. The Detroit Tigers are next on the list with 14 whitewashes.
• The Pirates claimed IF Ryan Kreidler, 27, off waivers from the Tigers and optioned him to Indy; his addition filled the 40-man roster. In four cup-of-coffee years and 89 games with Motown, the utilityman hit .138 and his six-year minor league BA is just .238. He’d been on the IL in ’23 and ’24 with different surgeries.
• The Pirates #5 Prospect (per MLB.com), Bradenton 1B/OF Edward Florentino, left his game on Thursday & was placed on the 7-day IL (injury not disclosed) on Saturday. With the clock running down, he may be done for the year to minimize any carry-over risk. He hit .298 with 16 HR between Rookie/Lo-A ball.

Termarr Johnson – 2025 photo MLB Pipeline

• 2B Termarr Johnson was back in the Altoona lineup Tuesday after taking a pitch to the hand/wrist early last week, so a bullet dodged…
• The Pirates farm system is ranked as Baseball America’s #2 minor league operation. Be nice if it translated to the show…
• The Pirates Hall of Fame added 1960 World Series winner/Cy Young awardee Vern Law, 1971 WS champ Al Oliver and 1925 WS victor/MLB HoF’er Kiki Cuyler. The ceremony was Thursday, followed by the Hall of Fame Game v the Rockies on Friday. Vern and son Vance, a former Bucco SS, hung around to take in the win.
• The Pirates will add Lanny Frattare to their media Wall of Fame on Wednesday, September 3. Frattare announced for the Buccos for 33 seasons (1976-2008) and called over 5,000 games. There’s no doubt about it: he deserves the recognition.
• The hottest indie act in baseball, the Savannah Bananas, take on the Texas Tailgaters in a two-game series at 7 PM, August 29-30, at PNC Park; both games are sold out.

Game Stuff:

• The Bucs took the PNC opener, 5-2, behind Paul Skenes (six IP, two runs, eight K, and Evan Sisk, who got his 1st MLB dub) and a wild pitch/throwaway sequence by the Toronto Blue Jays in the seventh, who as Bucco blogdom noted, out-Pirated the Pirates on this night.
• Mitch Keller continued his traditional summer swoon. The Bucs were down by five runs before they batted in the second and dropped the middle match, 7-3.

Johan Oviedo – 8/20/2025 image Pirates

• Johan Oviedo gave the Bucs five strong frames (one run, two hits, six K) and left with a 2-1 lead v the Jays, thanks to Tommy Pham’s two-run double. and that’s the way it stayed. The pen put up four one-hit frames to give Oviedo his first MLB win since 2023 and the series.
• You couldn’t ask for more from winner Braxton Ashcraft (5 IP, one hit, 6 K) and Bubba Chandler (4 IP, two hits, 3 K), who got the save in his debut. Cutch had four RBI with two 2Bs to get things going early while Pham, Spencer Horwitz .and Alexander Canario homered as the game went on to widen the gap as the Rockies fell to the Bucs, 9-0.
• Mike Burrows and the pen kept the ball rolling with a 5-1 win; Mike and four relievers combined to fan 13 Rox. Jared Triolo homered and tripled while Cutch bopped another bomb, both two-run shots, to provide enough attack.
• Tree banged a three-run homer in the fourth, Isiah Kiner-Falefa doubled home another run, Paul Skenes was on the hill, and that was the recipe for a 4-0 victory over Colorado and the Bucco sweep to cap a sweet homestand. Off to St. Louis…

MLB Stuff:

• The Detroit Tigers signed 2B Kevin Newman to a minor league contract on August 23 and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo.