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NEW YORK — The Pittsburgh Pirates have an extra roster space ahead of their upcoming doubleheader and have decided to bring up a new pitcher.
The Pirates announced that they added right-handed relief pitcher Noah Murdock as their 27th man for their doubleheader against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on July 22, making him available for both games.
MLB teams are allowed one extra player for doubleheaders and the Pirates have usually gone with a pitcher for this role, as they called up Khristian Curtis for their last doubleheader, July 18 vs. the Cleveland Guardians, and then sent him down the day after, when they went back to the normal 26-man roster.
This will likely happen to Murdock as well, with the Pirates using him out of the bullpen in one of the games, which will be especially important if they end up needing a relief pitcher or two, particularly if a game goes into extra innings.
The Pirates now have a bullpen with six right-handed pitchers, Wilber Dotel, Isaac Mattson, Carmen Mlodzisnki, Murdock, Yohan Ramírez and Dennis Santana, plus three left-handed pitchers in Brandon Eisert, Mason Montgomery and Gregory Soto.
What to Know About Noah Murdock
Pittsburgh added Murdock to the 40-man roster on July 5 and optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis on July 5.
Murdock had an assignment clause in his minor league contract with the Pirates, which stipulated that if another team was going to add him to their 26-man roster, the Pirates had to either let him go or add him to their 40-man roster, which they did.
He pitched in 14 games last season with the Athletics, his first MLB campaign, posting a 13.24 ERA in 14 games and 17.0 innings pitched, with 21 strikeouts to 20 walks, a .347 batting average allowed and a 2.71 WHIP.
The Athletics originally took Murdock in the Rule 5 Draft and when they designated him for assignment, he ended up returning to the Kansas City Royals, who took him in the seventh round of the 2019 MLB Draft.
He has had some success with Indianapolis this season, posting a 3.24 ERA over 14 appearances and 16.2 innings pitched, 26 strikeouts to five walks, a .210 BAA and a 1.08 WHIP.
Murdock comes in after seven straight scoreless outings at Triple-A, dating back to June 27, and he pitched most recently on July 18, just one inning, so expect that same workload from him if he appears in the doubleheader.
His arsenal is usually one of three pitches, a sinker, a cutter and a sweeper, but he also possesses a curveball and a four-seam fastball.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/pirates/onsi as Pirates Add Pitcher Before Yankees Doubleheader.
