The Pittsburgh Pirates made multiple roster moves before Tuesday’s game at Detroit, activating third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes from the 10-day injured list and selecting the contract of catcher Grant Koch.
The Pirates also placed left-handed pitcher Martin Perez (groin) on the 15-day injured list and catcher Joey Bart (left thumb) on the 10-day injured list, both retroactive to May 27. Both were injured in Sunday’s game against Atlanta, with Bart being removed after the first inning and Perez left after the third.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton called the return of Hayes, the 2023 National League Gold Glove winner, “very important. Hayes was batting .240/.322/.318 with seven doubles, one home run and 11 RBIs in 34 games before he was placed on the injured list with low back inflammation on May 11.
“When he’s healthy, offensively, we’ve seen what he can do,” Shelton said. “I know he’s battled through this back stuff. We’ve seen, even going back to last year, that when he’s healthy and he’s right, it’s really good at-bats. The second part of it is he’s a really good defender.”
Jared Triolo started at third base in Hayes’ absence, providing quality defense but batting only .188 (9 for 48) with one double, two homers and seven RBIs in 14 games since May 11.
“Tri’s done a really good job over there. That’s not taking anything away from Tri. Tri’s done a really good job,” Shelton said. “But when you get a guy like (Hayes) back, it changes the dynamic a little bit.”
Perez’s injury is another blow to a starting rotation that already lost lefty Marco Gonzales (forearm) to the injured list. The 33-year-old Perez was 1-3 with a 4.71 ERA and 1.55 WHIP and 46 strikeouts against 19 walks in 57 1/3 innings over 11 starts, including three quality starts. With a scheduled day off Thursday, the Pirates can reshuffle their starting rotation before replacing Perez.
Bart was batting .267/.362/.517 with three doubles, four homers and 12 RBIs in 22 games with the Pirates since being acquired from the Giants in a trade in early April.
Bart will be replaced by Koch, 27, who was added to the taxi squad last week after Yasmani Grandal was removed from a May 21 game against the San Francisco Giants with left groin discomfort. Koch batted .167 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs in 17 games at Triple-A Indianapolis but was brought aboard for his defense.
Koch, a 2018 fifth-round draft pick, has experience catching both Jared Jones and Paul Skenes, who are scheduled to start Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, against the Tigers.
“So that’s helpful that you have someone that’s been able to do that,” Shelton said. “The fact that he’s caught everybody else in our system is a bonus.”
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.