The Pittsburgh Pirates are addressing their depleted outfield depth by calling up Cal Mitchell, along with right-handed pitcher Roansy Contreras, from Triple-A Indianapolis for Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies.
Contreras will be the Pirates’ starting pitcher and Mitchell will start in right field.
To make room on the 26-man roster for Contreras and Mitchell, the Pirates placed right-handed reliever Heath Hembree (right calf strain) on the 15-day injured list and designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach (left hamstring strain) on the 10-day IL. To clear a 40-man roster spot for Mitchell, lefty reliever Cam Alldred was designated for assignment.
Contreras was 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA, 10 strikeouts and three walks in 72⁄3 innings over three relief appearances for the Pirates before being sent to Indianapolis to stretch out to become a starter. He was 0-1 with a 2.66 ERA, 24 strikeouts and 11 walks in 201⁄3 innings over five starts at Indianapolis.
The 6-foot, 205-pound Mitchell slashed .306/.362/.500 with nine doubles, five home runs, 26 RBIs and six stolen bases in 34 games at Indianapolis this season, making him a prime candidate for a promotion. Mitchell has 11 multi-hit games, including a pair with three hits, this season.
The 23-year-old, who bats and throws left-handed, is ranked the Pirates’ No. 23 prospect by Baseball America and No. 25 by MLB Pipeline. Mitchell was a 2017 second-round pick (No. 50 overall) by the Pirates out of Rancho Bernardo High School in San Diego.
The Pirates are down to three outfielders — Ben Gamel, Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski — after injuries sidelined Greg Allen and Jake Marisnick. Pirates manager Derek Shelton has used six different players in right field, including infielders Diego Castillo, Hoy Park and Cole Tucker.
