Pittsburgh

Pirates

The 28-year-old Gray is a solid defensive third baseman with power, but his inability to hit for average has kept him from getting much of a chance. He has 36 major league plate appearances for three teams, the last 24 of them coming after the A’s picked him up on waivers from the Marlins in mid-August. He went 3-for-21 with 13 strikeouts during his time with Oakland.

Ramirez pitched for the Pirates in 2022 and 2023 and had a 3.67 ERA in 61 1/3 innings. He spent this year with the Dodgers, Red Sox, Orioles, and Mets. compiling a 5.97 ERA and a 1.54 WHIP with 38 strikeouts in 37 2/3 innings. He will likely serve as organizational relief depth.

Siani has struggled to stay healthy since the Pirates made him the 37th overall pick in the 2019 draft, but he played in a career-high 116 games this year, hitting .324/.402/.564 in 20 games in high-A ball before fading to .254/.325/.368 in 96 games in Double-A. He’s probably never going to hit for a whole lot of power and his defense, while more than adequate, isn’t at the level of his older brother Michael’s, so he’s probably going to be a reserve if he makes the majors. The Pirates figure to leave him available in the Rule 5 draft.

Johnson went 2-for-4 with a homer before exiting with the severe cramps, but he was able to return for the celebration, and told reporters he could play Wednesday. Pittsburgh will likely have a say in that decision, but it’s good to know the 20-year-old didn’t suffer a long-term injury. Johnson has not lived up to hype since being a fourth-overall pick, but there’s plenty of time for that to change.

Falter faded some at the end of what was a rather solid year, finishing 8-9 with a 4.43 ERA. His velocity was up a bit more than one mph from 2023, but it didn’t result in additional strikeouts, which was disappointing from someone who has always been a flyball pitcher. Eligible for arbitration for the first time, he’s probably due about $2 million or so next year, which should make it an easy decision to keep him. Even if he’s not part of the Pirates rotation to begin the season, he’d be nice to have around as depth.

Grandal put the Pirates on the board with a solo homer off Luis Gil in the second inning. He later knocked a base hit to lead off the fifth and scored on a two-run shot by Billy Cook. Grandal knocked a third hit in the ninth to drive in a run and scored a third time on a home run by Nick Yorke. The 35-year-old backstop hit .228/.304/.400 with nine homers and 27 RBI across 243 plate appearances.

Cook extended the Pirates’ lead in the fifth inning with a two-run homer off Luis Gil for his only hit of the game. The 25-year-old has flashed some decent pop with three homers over 45 plate appearances, but has struck out 17 times with no walks while slashing .222/.222/.444.

The Pirates took a five-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning. Jalen Beeks started the frame and left the bases loaded with one out before Chapman came on to close it out. He struck out Aaron Judge then induced a line out to secure the win for Pittsburgh. It was the 14th save of the season for the 36-year-old left-hander.

Skenes made one final abbreviated outing to finish the season, tossing two clean innings while striking out three batters on 23 pitches -- 17 for strikes. The 22-year-old right-handed phenom ends his debut season with an outstanding 1.96 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, and a 170/32 K/BB ratio across 133 innings. Skenes should be in consideration for the first starting pitcher off drafts boards in 2025.

Jones made his final start of the season on Friday. This is merely a procedural move to make room for Mike Burrows on the active roster.