The Pirates are adding a pair of pitchers to their 40 man roster, acquiring left-hander Eric Stout from the Cubs for cash considerations and calling up right-hander Jerad Eickhoff from Class AAA Indianapolis.
The news of Eickhoff’s promotion comes via sources to Jarrod Prugar and myself. The club officially announced the Stout trade.
Eickhoff, who turns 32 next month, pitched well this spring for the Pirates as a non-roster invitee and was one of the final cuts they made. For Indianapolis, he has recorded a 4.86 ERA over 13 appearances, six of which were starts.
Once a promising young pitcher for the Phillies, Eickhoff battled injuries, including some nerve issues, that ended up costing him his roster spot. The Pirates are the fifth organization he has been with since 2019, but he has shown a serious commitment to making it work with his new club, being willing to take part in minor-league spring training with the team’s prospects back when the lockout was still ongoing.
In his major-league career, Eickhoff is 21-32 with a 4.35 ERA over 459 ⅔ innings and parts of six major-league seasons.
The Pirates will need a starter for Wednesday after Zach Thompson was placed on the 15-day injured list Monday with right forearm nerve inflammation. That move is retroactive to June 18.
Stout, 29, was optioned to Indianapolis as soon as the trade was announced. He recorded a 3.94 ERA over 29 ⅔ innings for the Cubs’ top affiliate this year while allowing two runs in 3 ⅔ major-league innings. In Class AAA, he posted some impressive strikeout numbers, whiffing 48, but it came with control issues, walking 22, hitting three and throwing two wild pitches.
Stout primarily works with a four-seam fastball the sits around 93 mph and a high spin slider that gets about 2,500 RPM. In his major-league cameos, he has leaned on the latter more.
The addition of Stout puts the Pirates’ roster at 40 players, so a corresponding move will need to be made to add Eickhoff.
The reason why the roster is currently at 40 is because Jake Marisnick was placed on the COVID-19 injured list earlier this week, which temporarily removes him from the roster. The Pirates currently have three players on that list, including Duane Underwood Jr. and Tucupita Marcano.
