The Pirates announced four roster moves, including the news that catcher/infielder
Endy Rodriguez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to right elbow inflammation. Left-hander
Joey Wentz was also designated for assignment. In the corresponding roster moves, the Bucs selected the contract of catcher
Brett Sullivan, and called up right-hander
Isaac Mattson from Triple-A Indianapolis. (
Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was among the beat writers who noted earlier today that Sullivan and Mattson had locker space in the Pirates’ clubhouse while Wentz’s locker was gone, and manager
Don Kelly told Hiles and other media and Rodriguez was going to the IL.)
Rodriguez has been limited to 18 games and 52 plate appearances in what has been another injury-plagued season for the former top prospect. A lacerated finger sidelined Rodriguez for six weeks, and he played in just one inning of his third game back from the IL before elbow discomfort forced him out of yesterday’s 5-4 Pirates win over the Phillies.
The exact nature of the elbow issue isn’t known, but it’s a notable red flag given that Rodriguez missed the entire 2024 season due to UCL surgery. The best-case scenario is that Rodriguez is just feeling some residual soreness perhaps more related to this year’s IL stint than anything lingering from his UCL procedure, but for now, Rodriguez will face additional time on the sidelines. With only a .173/.246/.250 slash line through his first 57 plate appearances, Rodriguez could also potentially use this absence as a reset on his season.
Rodriguez has split time between first base and catcher when he has been able to play. For the latter position, since
Joey Bart is also on the seven-day concussion IL, Sullivan will now head to the majors to join
Henry Davis as Pittsburgh’s catching combo. Sullivan was acquired in a trade with the Padres in mid-April soon after Rodriguez was placed on the IL with his finger injury, as the Pirates wanted to add to their depth behind the plate.
Sullivan has hit .206/.243/.299 over 103 PA at the big league level (all with San Diego in 2023-24). Over 11 pro seasons, the 31-year-old has posted some good numbers in the minors, including a .268/.338/.443 slash line and 43 home runs over 1670 Triple-A plate appearances. Sullivan has been considered a middling defensive catcher, which could explain why he hasn’t received much big league time even while spending most of his career with the Rays and Padres — two clubs that have their share of needs at catcher in recent years.
Wentz is out of minor league options, so the Pirates had to designate the southpaw and expose him to waivers before trying to move him off the 40-man roster. Pittsburgh acquired Wentz on a waiver claim from the Tigers last September, and he has been decent if unremarkable over 38 innings of bullpen work. Twenty-six of those innings came this season, with Wentz posting a 4.15 ERA, 19.1% strikeout rate, and 9.6% walk rate. As per usual, Wentz has performed better against left-handed batters than right-handed batters over his career, though his splits this year (.661 OPS against lefties, .716 OPS against righties) doesn’t reveal a huge gap.
While his 2025 work remains a smaller sample size, it does represent a big step up from the 6.03 ERA Wentz posted in 173 innings with Detroit and Pittsburgh in 2023-24. That could be enough for a southpaw-needy team to put in a claim on Wentz’s services, but if he clears waivers, he doesn’t have a prior outright on his resume so he’d have to accept an outright assignment to Indianapolis.
