PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Signing in the offseason to provide a veteran presence, Yasmani Grandal will now get the chance to do that at the big-league level with the Pirates.
The 35-year-old activated from the injured list on Friday after dealing with plantar fasciitis since early in training camp. Pirates manager Derek Shelton said he would have been up earlier if not for the storms in the Midwest last week cancelling games with the Bucs AAA affiliate. Because he played in no Spring Training games this year, he needed a series of opportunities with Indy. The Bucs wanted him to catch multiple games in a row before he was added to the active roster.
Grandal played nine games at AAA with nine hits in 35 at bats, a pair of doubles and a home run with 11 RBI and a .257 average. Last year with the White Sox, the switch-hitter had a .234 average with 14 doubles, eight home runs, 33 RBI in 363 at bats. In 2021 with Chicago he hit 23 home runs in 93 games.
“He will help and continue to help with our pitch sequencing and game-planning because he’s been here with the exception of his time in Indy,” Shelton said. “He gives us a left-handed hitter, with being a switch-hitting catcher.”
How it will play out splitting games with recently acquired catcher Joey Bart is unknown, but it gives the Pirates a pair of catchers with 1409 career games, most of them by Grandal.
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GM Ben Cherington signed Grandal to a one-year, $2.5 million contract in February after the season-ending injury to Endy Rodriguez.