One of the Pirates' top pitching prospects, Roansy Contreras, will make his big-league debut Wednesday night at PNC Park against the Cubs.
Contreras, 21, came from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade and is ranked by Baseball America as their No. 6 prospect, briefly spending time on the publication’s top 100 list midseason.
"We're getting to take a look at one of our prospects, one of our top prospects," Derek Shelton said Tuesday after announcing Contreras was getting the nod. "I think we temper all excitement, just like we do with any situation. But it’s just a credit to our development group as we continue to move guys forward."
For Contreras, making the jump from pitching in Class A in 2019 to the majors has been his goal this season.
"This year, my focus is to get to the big show," Contreras told our Jarrod Prugar in June. "Get big league time, no matter how many innings over there. Like, one inning or three innings. Just get to the big show."
The right-hander features a mid-90s fastball that he can get into the 97-98 mph range, a high-spin curveball, slider and a plus changeup. He had some control problems in the past, but walked only 13 over 58 innings this season.
Contreras has made just one start with Class AAA Indianapolis this season, coming last week in a grouping of promotions once Class AA Altoona’s season ended.
In Altoona, Contreras pitched to a 2.65 ERA over 54 1/3 innings across 12 starts with 76 strikeouts. In his start in Indianapolis last week, he allowed one run over 3 2/3 innings with six strikeouts.
The major league club has suffered a series of injuries this month, with JT Brubaker, Steven Brault, Bryse Wilson and Dillon Peters all hitting the injured list recently. Brubaker is the only one who has a chance of returning
“Right now, with the way our starting pitching's a little banged up, we're going to have to be creative," Shelton said this weekend in Philadelphia.
Contreras did miss time in July due to a forearm injury, but the medical team caught it quickly and it was able to be treated with rest and rehab.
"It's a definite credit to our performance team and our medical group and our player development group," Shelton said. "Anytime you're dealing with young players, or you're dealing with injuries, you have to make sure that's first and foremost."
In injury news, utilityman Michael Chavis (elbow) has rejoined the Pirates in Pittsburgh, though the club has yet to make a move to activate him off the injured list yet.
