Ben Cherington said Monday he wasn’t satisfied with the Pittsburgh Pirates’ depth, so the general manager is shaking up the roster after they endured a season-worst, seven-game losing streak.
A day after adding veteran Chris Owings to stabilize the shortstop position, the Pirates added a hot bat to the lineup Tuesday by selecting the contract of outfielder Josh Palacios from Triple-A Indianapolis.
The Pirates also recalled right-hander Luis Ortiz from the taxi squad, and he will start Tuesday night against the Colorado Rockies. Palacios also will start in right field, batting sixth in the lineup.
Palacios, 27, hit .434/.500/.774 with four doubles, a triple and team-highs of four home runs and 20 RBIs in 13 games with Indianapolis after being promoted from Double-A Altoona on April 21.
The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Palacios, who bats left, has a .207 batting average (17 for 82) with two doubles and six RBIs with 26 strikeouts and four walks in 42 career major league games, 13 with Toronto in 2021 and 29 with Washington last season.
The Pirates picked Palacios from the Nationals in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft in December, and he played for the Netherlands in the World Baseball Classic this past spring.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Palacios, the Pirates designated right-handed reliever Chase De Jong for assignment. De Jong, 29, had a 10.61 ERA and 1.93 WHIP in 9 1/3 innings over five appearances this season. He gave up five runs on six hits, including a pair of two-run homers, in a 10-1 loss to the Blue Jays on Sunday.
To make room for Ortiz, rookie reliever Cody Bolton was optioned to Indianapolis.
