Weekly Report: Another Meh Week, Player Shuffle, 1000 For B-Rey, 10/10 For Oneil, 300 For Marcell, RIP Dog, Seth Moves Up, Minor Honors

May Days…

Pirates Stuff:

• MLB suspended Pirates RHP Chris Devenski for two games v ‘Zona and fined him an undisclosed amount for intentionally throwing at the Reds Sal Stewart. Manager Don Kelly was hit with a one-game suspension and fined too. Kristopher Negron was the skipper for Arizona opener at Chase Field while Don Kelly was serving his suspension. Negron was hired as bench coach during the offseason after a season of managing Mariners AAA club, then four more years of coaching at Seattle.
• When Devenski came off his suspension, he was placed on the 15-day IL for an undisclosed illness and RHP Cam Sanders was promoted from the taxi squad to take his place in the pen.
• Jake Mangum was pulled from Thursday’s lineup with left hammy discomfort. He ended up on the 10-day IL and Nick Yorke was recalled from Indy. Nick Gonzales also sat after being hit in the hand the night before, although that may have just been a scheduled day off as he was back in the lineup on Friday. 
• Ryan Harbin took some time to check his options and decided to re-signed with the Pirates on a minor league deal to Indy.

Bryan collectin’ hits – Pirates graphic 2026

• Bryan Reynolds reached 1,000 career hits against Arizona on Tuesday night. He joined Roberto Clemente, Andrew McCutchen, Dave Parker and Willie Stargell as the only Pirates with at least 1,000 hits, 200 doubles and 140 HRs. His first MLB rap was on 4/19/2019 v Derek Holland of the Giants at PNC Park.
• Marcell Ozuna reached the 300-HR mark on Friday, one of just 15 active players to post that many. Ozuna is the fifth Pirate to do it as a Bucco, joining Stargell, McCutchen, Jeromy Burnitz and Ralph Kiner.
• Oneil Cruz is the second Pirates player to post 10+ HRs & 10+ stolen bases during the first 41 games of a season. (10HR/15 SB). Barry Bonds also did it in 1992 (11 HR, 10 SB).
• Bob Skinner passed away at the age of 94 in California. Skinner was a member of the 1960 WS champ Pirates and a coach for the 1979 World Series titlists. The outfielder made his MLB debut with the Bucs in 1954 as a first baseman who played nine of his 12 seasons in Pittsburgh (1,100 games), putting together a Bucco career line of .280/90/462 and was a three-time All-Star. He managed the Phils & the Padres, coached for four teams and also served as a scout. His son Joel was a MLB catcher & skipper.

Konnor’s #1 everywhere…for a couple of more at-bats.

• SS Konnor Griffin (#1), P Seth Hernandez (#10) and OF Edward Florentino (#21) are ranked among Baseball America’s Top 25 Prospects, with Konnor needing to reach 130 MLB at-bats before he graduates off the list.
• Seth Hernandez won April’s Pitcher of the Month award for the Florida State League. In five games, the Bradenton ace prospect spun 22 innings, going 2-0 while giving up ten hits & posting a 1.23 ERA with 41 strikeouts. The Pirates noticed and promoted him to A+ Greensboro. He went 3-0 /0.96 ERA in six starts for Bradenton, with 50 strikeouts in 28 innings.
• Bradenton 3B Murf Gray was the Florida State League Player of the Week. He hit .455 with two homers, eight RBI and seven runs scored. Coming into this week, the Fresno State products line is .375/5/26 in 26 games.
• After getting toasted in his prior start at Indy, Jose Uquidy worked five no-hit/seven K innings on Saturday. Rounding into shape or…?
• The BurghProud Challenge was announced. It’s a joint effort between the Pirates, Steelers & Penguins with the Richard King Mellon Foundation & GoFundMe to raise funds and awareness for the Greater Pgh Community Food Bank.

• Bubba Chandler was a wild child on Tuesday and a victim of the Oneil Cruz-Bryan Reynolds ball-drop revue, but left after five with the game at Chase Field competitive at 2-0 Arizona. But Yohan Ramirez was torched, Dennis Santana was nicked, and Kris Negron’s mangerial debut was one to forget as the Bucs fell, 9-0.
• The bats weren’t much better the next eve, but Paul Skenes was, going eight innings of two-hit, seven-K shutout ball. Gregory Soto locked it down the ninth, so Brandon Lowe’s first-inning homer was the decisive blow as the Bucs 1-0 victory evened the set with the Diamondbacks.
• Mitch Keller was solid v the D-Backs on getaway day, giving up a pair of runs in six frames, and the pen served zippos the rest of the way as the Bucs took the series in the desert by a 4-2 tally.  Brandon Lowe homered and had three hits; Joey Bart also went deep with Gregory Soto closing to earn the save.
• Marcell Ozuna put the Bucs up early with a solo shot in San Fran; Rafael Devers tied it it quickly. It pretty much stayed that way during Carmen Mlodzinski’s six-inning stint; he left down 2-1. But Justin Lawrence got banged, Evan Sisk couldn’t stem the bleeding, and the G-Men took the opener by a 5-2 tally. The Pirates only had five hits while piling up seven walks; a little more ‘tude may have helped.

Braxton Ashcraft – 2026 Pirates

• Braxton Ashcraft didn’t have to worry about support; the Bucs blew it open in the sixth and seventh frames to roll, 13-3. Every Pirate had a hit (they bopped out 20) as Brandon Lowe chased four runs home, Nick Gonzales posted four raps, Joey Bart banged out four knocks/scored three times v his ol’ team and Oneil Cruz piled up three raps/three runs scored. Pgh was 10-for-22 w/RISP as seven guys scored and chased home runs. 
• Konnor Griffin & Oneil Cruz went long, Bubba was mostly in the strike zone, going six innings and leaving with a 4-2 lead. A short outing by Isaac Mattson turned that lead into a tie. Spencer Horwitz doubled in a pair of runs in the 10th; Yohan Ramirez gave that lead back. In the 11th, the Bucs had 1st & 3rd occupied with no outs and couldn’t convert; The G-Men did their job and took a 7-6 decision. Maybe Ben Cherington ought to be looking to shore up the bullpen a little bit…
• Pittsburgh comes home to PNC to take on Colorado (T-H) and then Philly next weekend. The Phils are hot; the Rox are not.