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First Pitch: This Season is a Reminder of How Catching Depth Can Be Fleeting

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This past off-season, the Pirates extended Chris Stewart, which led to the belief that they wouldn’t extend Francisco Cervelli. Then they extended Cervelli, which led to the belief that Elias Diaz was now expendable.

It’s easy to see how that belief was held early in the season.  We were four seasons removed from the 2011 season, when the Pirates used eight different catchers, including five of them in double-digit games, and three of them for 30 starts or more. Since that season, the Pirates have been somewhat fortunate with their catching injuries, especially when you consider that they’ve spent the previous three years with Francisco Cervelli and Russell Martin as their starters.

This year, we’re getting a reminder of how fleeting catching depth can be. The Pirates claimed Eric Fryer on Sunday, and officially added him to the roster today, placing Chris Stewart on the disabled list. The Pirates now have their top two catchers on the DL. Furthermore, their main backup at the start of the year was Elias Diaz, and he has been on the DL all season, starting a rehab assignment today. That means he’s 20 days from returning, at most, and he might need a bit more time than that to get fully adjusted and prepared for the majors.

Once Fryer makes his first appearance, the Pirates will have used five catchers this year. Along with Cervelli and Stewart, they’ve added Erik Kratz, and called up Jacob Stallings for a few games. However you want to count it, they have used their 5th and 6th catching options already this season.

This is something to keep in mind when thinking about the extensions for Cervelli and Stewart, and especially the latter. There’s been the idea that the Stewart extension was a bad one, since it blocked Diaz. At worst, they can easily trade Stewart. But it’s more likely that this gives them added depth, which comes in handy for the reasons we’ve seen this year.

Will we see Cervelli, Stewart, and Diaz all injured at the same time again going forward? Probably not. There’s a reason this massive need for catchers happened five years apart. It’s always possible, but it’s more of an emergency situation. That said, catchers do get hurt, and the odds of Cervelli and Stewart both staying healthy for the next 2-3 years would be just as unlikely as the odds of another 2011/2016 season taking place during those years. Even with both guys under contract, they’ll be using Elias Diaz, and maybe even Jacob Stallings.

Fortunately for the 2016 season, the catching situation looks to be turning around soon. I wouldn’t be surprised if Cervelli returns after the All-Star break. The Pirates said that Cervelli should return before Diaz is ready, and Diaz looks like he’ll be ready to come off the DL by the third week in July. That’s about the same time Stewart could be ready, which means by the end of the month we could be back to seeing Cervelli and Stewart in Pittsburgh, with Diaz and Stallings in Triple-A.

**Jameson Taillon to Disabled List, Steven Brault to Start Tomorrow. I’m not too worried about the move with Taillon. John Dreker spoke with a source who said that a few weeks ago, the Pirates were planning on getting Taillon some rest. They’ve been cautious about controlling his innings and pitches in his first full season back. If Gerrit Cole can return Sunday (more on that in a second), then this would only put Taillon out for one start, allowing him to return after the All-Star break. If they allowed him to make this start, he’d miss a start after the break, but they’d also have to go with guys on short rest to get him back as soon as possible. And if you’re wondering why they’d go with the DL instead of sending him down, I can think of two reasons.

One, there’s really no difference in time at this point, since Taillon’s move would be back-dated. Both moves have him out for about ten days from this point. The other reason is that sending him down gives him minor league pay, while putting him on the DL gives him MLB pay, with the difference being about $40,000 over that ten day span. If you’re telling a guy you’re planning on giving him a break, then it’s probably not a good idea to give him a pay cut in the process. That’s the type of thing that can lead to a grievance from the player and the player’s union, over an amount that doesn’t matter to the team, but makes up almost 10% of the player’s salary.

**Brault Gets Surprise Call to Make Major League Debut. Brian Peloza caught up with Brault in Indianapolis tonight, talking to him about tomorrow’s debut.

**Gerrit Cole Will Make a Rehab Start With Indianapolis on Tuesday. If Cole only needs one start, then he could return to Pittsburgh on Sunday against the Cubs. If he needs two rehab starts, he could return the first game after the All-Star break.

**Top Performers: Bell, Hanson, Holmes, Eppler and Williams Among the Best Last Week. Our weekly top performers, with reports on the best players from the last week.

**Stewart Placed on Disabled List, Fryer Added to Roster, Jhang Promoted to Indy. All of the catching moves, including Jin-De Jhang getting promoted to Indianapolis. This one might be the rare short-term promotion for a prospect, since Diaz will return soon.

**Prospect Watch: MacGregor Makes Debut, Elias Diaz Begins Rehab with Bradenton. A good debut for the second round pick, Elias Diaz starts his rehab, and a live report from Indianapolis with an update on Austin Meadows.

**Morning Report: Notes from the GCL on Debuts, Returns, Assignments and an Injury. John Dreker with some notes on the GCL schedule this week.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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