'It's special just to be here:' Pirates call up journeyman Maggi

After 1,155 games in the minor leagues, Drew Maggi is once again on the cusp of making his big league debut.

In response to placing Bryan Reynolds on the Bereavement List, the Pirates selected Maggi's contract from Class AA Altoona, giving him a spot on the 26-man roster ahead of club's Sunday afternoon tilt against the Reds at PNC Park.

However, this isn't your typical call up. Despite playing professional baseball since the Pirates selected him out of Arizona State in the 15th round of the 2010 draft, the 33-year-old infielder has yet to make an appearance in a Major League game.

If you want to see just how much this means to Maggi, just watch the moment he found out he was going to the big leagues:

"It's been crazy," Maggi said Sunday morning, reflecting on the previous 12-plus hours. "It's been very quick. A lot of phone calls. A lot of emotion, up and down. Feeling good and just flashing back to my whole career. It's just special to be here."

Throughout Maggi's professional career, he's bounced around between six different organizations, with the vast majority of his appearances split almost evenly between the Class AAA and Class AA levels. Throughout more than a decade of playing in the minor leagues, Maggi has only received one MLB call up: As a member of the Twins' taxi squad in 2021, Maggi served as an injury replacement for two days, but never made an appearance in a game before being optioned back to AAA St. Paul.

Now, back with the club that drafted him since Aug. 2022, Maggi's getting a second chance at possibly making his Major League debut. His No. 39 isn't in the lineup Sunday afternoon. But, instead of thinking about the long, arduous journey of getting to this point, Maggi is already displaying a calming patience for if and when he gets his name called.

"I haven't really thought about all of that," Maggi said. "I'm happy to be here. This team's freakin' grooving right now. Right now, for me, I'm going to go out there and enjoy the game. If my name's called, I'll be ready to go. That's how I'm approaching it."

I asked Maggi if he campaigned to Derek Shelton for a spot in the lineup. It'd be more than understandable if he did.

"No," Maggi chuckled. "I'm just going with the flow."

There's no doubt some of Maggi's former teammates at Class AAA Indianapolis want to see Maggi get his name called. Ji Hwan Bae and Tucupita Marcano were among several Pirates players to greet Maggi with an embrace and words of encouragement Sunday morning, as did the most popular player in the clubhouse.

"Get you an at-bat, man," Andrew McCutchen told Maggi, giving him a hug from only two stalls over.

"Hopefully," Maggi responded. "Man, just one pitch."

If Shelton can find a way to get him in the game Sunday, he'll look to do it -- within reason, of course.

"I hope to get him in," Shelton said on his pregame radio show. "We'll see what the game dictates."