Weekly Report: Weak Week, Pen Restocked, Spencer Back & Mitch Out, Comin' & Goin' Moves, Pirates Notes, Ex-Bucs On The Go

The deadline is done and it’s officially the dog days…

Pirates Moves ‘N’ Stuff:

• Well, they made one big move, sending SS Sammy Stafura to the Mets for RHP Luke Weaver. Weaver, 32, has been around – this is his eighth team in 11 MLB campaigns, and this has been the best year of that run with a line of 2-1-1/1.84 in 42 outings. He’s been a setup guy for NY, but may get a look at closing for the Pirates; he posted eight saves in ’25, so he’s been there. Luke makes $9.5M this year and is signed for $12.5M for 2027, so he’s not a rental. As a cherry on top, the Mets will cover $2M of Weaver’s contract this year and $6M next year. Stafura, 21, was the Pirates #9 prospect and was hitting .302 with 19 HRs at Hi-A Greensboro, albeit in a hitter-friendly yard. With Konnor Griffin at short, he was blocked and available. The Pirates got Sammy from Cincy as part of the ’25 KeBryan Hayes deal.

New Closer?

• The next flip was Altoona RHP Kyle Robinson, who was shipped to the Angels for Kirby Yates. 12-year vet Yates, 39, was 0-5-3/3.95 for LAA. Robinson was the return in May from the A’s for Alika Williams. The 22-year-old starter was 5-2/4.55 this year in AA/Hi-A.
• They dealt Indy RHP Brandan Bidois (6.32 ERA in 11 ’26 MLB outings), Greensboro OF Brian Sanchez and Rookie League SS Hyun Seung Lee to the Marlins for third-year RHP Lake Bachar. Lake’s line was 1-2-2/3.84, and he’s another multi-role bullpen arm with a ton of control. The 31-year-old still has two options left and another year of pre-arb.  
• The Pirates called up LF Ronny Simon, who’s also played middle infield & is hitting .330 w/seven HR at Indy, and released DH Marcell Ozuna who finally ran out of chances. Simon hit .234 in his 2025 MLB debut season, split between Miami and the Bucs. LHP Evan Sisk (elbow inflammation) was also added to the roster after his rehab assignment. RHP Wilber Dotel was optioned to Indy; that move was expected as the Pirates see his long-term value as a starter, not as a bullpen bulk guy. 
• The new bullpen group had reported by Tuesday, and the FO cleared roster space by optioning LHP Brandon Eisert and RHP Noah Murdock to Indy. RHP Ron Marinaccio was DFA’ed and claimed by the Reds. RHP Chris Devenski (illness) finished his rehab and was outrighted to Indy; he opted for free agency. So did RHP Mike Clevinger, who returned to Indy in June from the IL (knee) and on Thursday exercised his opt-out clause, with no takers yet.

Mitch Is Done For The Year…

• The Pirates announced on Monday that Mitch Keller has been placed on the 60-day injured list due to a right arm teres major muscle injury, ending his season. LHP Brandon Eisert was recalled to take his place on the active roster. A day later, he was optioned back to AAA when the new trio of relievers caught up with the club.
• C Endy Rodriguez was pulled from Saturday’s lineup with hip discomfort.
• CF Oneil Cruz began his long-awaited rehab assignment on Friday; he can return whenever he feels it as his IL stint ended on 8/7. There’s still a while to go on SS Konnor Griffin, though – he’s on the IL until 9/4, so still lots of down time ahead. KG will get his finger checked out in mid-August with a rehab date TBD.
• Non-deadline swap: The Bucs acquired AAA-RHP Andrew Moore from San Diego in exchange for DFA’ed RHP Hunter Stratton.
• Indy 2B prospect Termarr Johnson injured his knee Saturday and had to be carted off the field; lotta Bucs biting the dust this year. He’ll be examined later in the week.

• 3B Nick Gonzales was named to MLB’s All-July team; he hit .338 during the month with three HRs.
• With Sunday’s defeat, the Pirates lost their sixth series in a row. They were 52-48 on 7/19 before the six sets started; now they’re 58-62.
• Pittsburgh has used 24 different position players and 30 different pitchers so far this year.

Josh Retires A Pirate.

• IF Josh Harrison, who hung the spikes up after a 13-year, six-team career, was honored Saturday at PNC Park after retiring as a Pirate the day before at a press conference while signing a one-day contract for the Bucs. It wasn’t his first deal with Pittsburgh – J-Hey played seemingly everywhere in eight seasons (2011-18/.277 BA) with the Pirates, appeared in three playoff campaigns (2013-15/.286), was an MLB All-Star in 2014 & 2017 and the Heart & Hustle Award winner in 2014. As for his farewell game, the team handed out a Josh tee, paid him field & vid honors and then had him toss the first pitch to get the game v the Mets going.
• The Pirates honored John Candelaria on Sunday on the 50th anniversary of his no-hitter. The Candy Man took the bump once again and tossed out the first pitch before the Bucs-Mets match.
• Jake Mangum had a big week – he won the Pirates 2026 Heart & Hustle Award a few days after he stole his 20th base of the season, making him the third Pirate with at least 20 swipes this year (Oneil Cruz – 21 and Konnor Griffin – 20). It’s the first time the Pirates have had at least three players with 20 larcenies in a season since 1999, when Jason Kendall (22), Kevin Young (22) and Al Martin (20) did the deed.

Game Stuff:

• OK, Bucs. Spencer Horwitz (welcome back!) banged a two-out, three-run, bases-loaded double and Jake Mangum bunted another run home to give the Pirates a 4-0 lead. Bubba Chandler held onto to that lead until he faced the Brew Crew order for a third time, and that made it a 4-3 game after five. The two pens put up zeroes after that, and Pittsburgh took the opener v Milwaukee at American Family Field, 4-3.

Spencer is back in the lineup.

• Jared Jones was meh, but Jacob Gonzalez & Endy Rodriguez solo shots kept it close at 3-2 after four frames. The retooled pen then did its job, but the bats went quiet as the Pirates were dropped by the Crew, 4-2.
• Endy Rodriguez caught Paul Skenes tonight, not Hank Davis, ending a 51-game streak of the Skenes-Davis battery. Paul still couldn’t sync with the strike zone and left after five frames down 3-0. Again, not enough lumber, just Endy’s two-run dinger, and the Brewers went up 2-1 in the series with a 4-2 win.
• Another blah start – Braxton Ashcraft went five frames and gave up four runs and the bats continued to be icy as Milwaukee won the finale 5-2. The highlight was Brandon Lowe’s solo shot, his 24th HR of the season and the most homers bopped in a single season by a Bucco 2B, passing Neil Walker’s 23 bombs launched in 2014.
• The Bucs came home tail ‘tween legs after a 2-6 roadtrip and sent Carmen Mlodzinski out to stop the skid v the Mets after having him tread water for a few weeks in a pretty pointless bullpen role. Didn’t seem to help him any as a starter either as he gave up a 5-spot in three frames, although he was iced for a while during a rain delay. The Pirates rallied late but fell again, 6-4.

Bubba Chandler – 2026 Topps Chrome Black

• Yay, Bubba – he tossed six three-hit shutout frames while small ball reigned supreme for the Pirates as they snapped out of their doldrums at least for a night, romping 9-0 over the NY Mets. Nick Gonzales & Ronny Simon teamed up for five RBI; Jake Mangum, Brandon Lowe & B-Rey each scored twice, with Lowe also homering.
• Jared Jones spun three innings; he left on the wrong side of an 8-1 count that ended 11-1, losing the game and the series.
• The series ended a stretch of 17 games in 17 days for the Bucs (a couple of rainouts turned into next-day twin bills); the Pirates have Monday off before opening a three-game set in Miami.

MLB Stuff:

• RHP Jose Soriano was traded by LAA to Toronto. Guys with good memories will recall he was a Pirates Rule 5 pick from the Halos in 2020 but was returned after a second TJ surgery.
• The Cubs dealt with the Mets and came away with RHP Clay Holmes, the old Bucco reliever who was reinvented into a pretty effective starter.
• Tampa Bay acquired OF Jack Suwinski from LAD.
• Atlanta flipped Joey Bart to the Chicago White Sox for RHP Duncan Davitt, who had been DFA’ed. Bart hit .188 with a homer in 20 games with the Bravos, and didn’t get a shot to do much for the Sox. He broke his hand three days after he arrived and went on the 10-day IL; he’s expected to be out for at least a month.
• RHP Caleb Ferguson was sent to the Cards by the Reds. He was serviceable with the Bucs last year and had a 1-0-1/4.01 line for Cincy in 2026.
• Cutch, 39, was released from AAA Gwinnett by the Braves; he was batting .333 with a homer and five RBIs in nine games and reportedly decided to exercise his contract’s opt-out clause.
• Philly released SS Liover Peguero, 25, from AAA Lehigh Valley; he had signed with them during the offseason after hitting .227 for the Pirates in 96 games from 2022-25.
• 2B/OF Jihwan Bae, who was a Buc yo-yo from 2022-25 (.223 in 163 games w/37 stolen bases) & went to Mets on waivers, was recently released by NY and has signed a minor league deal with Milwaukee.