The Pittsburgh Pirates made a series of roster moves before Thursday’s game against the San Diego Padres, with the most prominent affecting a struggling high-leverage reliever.
The Pirates placed right-hander Colin Holderman, who has a 16.62 ERA in his past five appearances, on the 15-day injured list with a sprained right wrist.
Holderman allowed 11 runs (eight earned) on nine hits — including four home runs — with three walks and four strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings over his past five games, with two blown leads and two losses. Holderman took the loss in his past two outings, giving up a three-run homer to Joc Pederson in the seventh inning of a 6-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday and three runs (one earned) on two hits and a walk in the 10th inning of the 9-8 loss to the San Diego Padres on Wednesday.
To boost a bullpen depleted by injury and overuse after a pair of extended rain delays and an extra-inning game, the Pirates selected the contract of righty reliever Ben Heller from Triple-A Indianapolis.
Heller made two appearances for the Pirates this season, allowing five runs on four hits in an 11-7 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 6 and six earned runs on five hits in the 10th inning of an 11-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins three days later. Heller was designated for assignment but cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Indianapolis, where he had a 1.33 ERA in his past 21 appearances.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Pirates designated outfielder Edward Olivares for assignment. Acquired from the Kansas City Royals in the offseason, Olivares batted .224/.291/.333 with four doubles, five home runs and 23 RBIs in 55 games for the Pirates.
The Pirates also announced that right-handed pitcher Jared Jones and outfielder Joshua Palacios will begin rehabilitation assignments Thursday night with Indianapolis.
