The Pittsburgh Pirates are giving their newly acquired outfielder a shot right away in the big leagues.
The Pirates announced Thursday night that they called up Alexander Canario to the majors to take the place of infielder/outfielder Ji Hwan Bae, who was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis. Pittsburgh just traded for Canario earlier this week from the New York Mets in exchange for cash considerations.
Canario, who has just 21 games of big-league experience under his belt, could provide an offensive jolt the Pirates are looking for early in the season. The 24-year-old batted .286 in limited time with the Chicago Cubs the past two seasons, but showed promise in their farm system.
Canario slugged an eye-catching 37 home runs with 97 RBIs across three levels of Chicago’s minor league system in 2022. He didn’t match that production again, but still belted 18 round-trippers with Triple-A Iowa a season ago.
Canario could see playing time right away, especially with Bryan Reynolds limited to designated hitter duties at the moment.
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The versatile Bae got off to a rough start to this season. He played in only two games and struck out in three of his four at-bats. He was a regular contributor two seasons ago when he played in a career-high 111 games and stole 24 bases. But his playing time greatly diminished last season, appearing in just 29 games.
Bae is just the latest player from the Pirates’ Opening Day roster to be sent down already this season. Pittsburgh optioned two-time All-Star closer David Bednar earlier this week.
Featured image via Sam Navarro/Imagn Images