Roansy Contreras, a top pitching prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates, will be promoted to the major league level on Saturday.
Fans of the Pittsburgh Pirates were understandably outraged when top-hitting prospect Oneil Cruz and top pitching prospect Roansy Contreras were relegated to Triple-A to begin the season.
While Cruz remains confined to hitting 110 MPH rockets at Indianapolis for the time being, Contreras appears to be on his way to Pittsburgh.
Contreras’ elevation could be linked to the fact that Duane Underwood Jr. appears to be on his way to the injured list.
After only 10 pitches, Underwood Jr. left Thursday’s season opener with an apparent arm issue.
The team could still place Underwood Jr. on the disabled list on Saturday, promote another reliever, and then add Contreras to the active roster when he’s ready to start.
This is the most likely course of action we will witness.
While it’s unclear what role Contreras will play for the Pittsburgh Pirates, it’s difficult to imagine the team promoting him without the expectation of him starting.
When you have a top 100 pitching prospect on the verge of breaking into the majors and already has an MLB start under their belt, you don’t promote them to the bullpen.
The Pittsburgh Pirates are about to embark on a stretch of 16 games in as many days.
Factor in the shortened spring training not allowing many pitchers to get fully stretched out before the start of the season, as well as the team likely losing their best long relief man to the IL and it is easy to see why they would be looking to add a starting pitcher.
Contreras is likely to make one or two starts for the Pirates before being optioned back to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Although this is not what Pirate fans want to hear, they can still manage his service time to acquire an extra year of team control by doing so.
Does Roansy Contreras Have Any Kids?
Roansy Contreras doesn’t have any kids at the moment.