CHICAGO -- The Pirates are making another change to their ever-fluid pool of catchers, claiming catcher Tyler Heineman off waivers from the Blue Jays.
To make room on the major-league and 40-man roster, catcher Andrew Knapp has been designated for assignment.
Heineman is expected to report to Wrigley Field in time for Monday's contest against the Cubs. When he inevitably plays in a game, he will be the fifth different Pirate to catch in the first month and a half of the season: Knapp, the injured Roberto Pérez, the current starter Michael Perez and utilityman Josh VanMeter.
"It's gonna be a challenge, and it's going to be a challenge that falls upon [game planning and strategy coach] Radley [Haddad] and [pitching coach] Oscar [Marin] and Mecc [bullpen coach Justin Meccage] to get Tyler up to speed and kind of work from there," Derek Shelton said before the game. "It's just something that's one of those challenges that we have to take and have to move forward with how our group works."
Shelton added after that he and the team like the way Heineman catches the baseball, which is the reason for the claim.
Heineman, 30, has been quite the journeyman throughout his career. The Pirates will be his eighth club in five years. He's played 30 major-league games with the Marlins, Giants and Blue Jays, hitting .221 with one home run and four RBIs. He was optioned to the minors by the Blue Jays Saturday.
In a very small major-league sample size, he has thrown out seven of 20 potential base-stealers and has been worth two defensive runs saved.
Knapp signed a major-league deal with the Pirates shortly before the regular season began. In 11 games, he hit .129 with a .390 OPS. FanGraphs valued him at -0.2 WAR.
His most noteworthy moment in his brief Pirates tenure was being thrown out from the bench in a game against the Reds. Pérez was injured later in the game, forcing VanMeter to make his first appearance as a catcher since he was a teenager.
If Knapp clears waivers, he will have the option to decline a minor-league assignment to Class AAA Indianapolis.
