The Pirates have outrighted outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba and catcher Ali Sánchez to Triple-A Indianapolis, in accordance with the staff’s official transactions feed. The 2 gamers had been designated for project on Opening Day however have now cleared waivers.
Smith-Njigba has change into fairly accustomed to the DFA wire, as he briefly left the Pirates group through waiver declare when Pittsburgh initially designated him again in January. The Mariners claimed Smith-Njigba however then designated him shortly thereafter, permitting the Pirates to assert him again lower than three weeks after initially parting methods with the outfielder. This newest transaction permits the Bucs to maneuver Smith-Njigba off their 40-man roster, however he’ll stay as a depth choice at Triple-A.
CSN turns 25 subsequent month, and his huge league resume consists of 18 video games and 44 plate appearances (with a .493 OPS) with Pittsburgh during the last two seasons. Aside from his temporary sojourn as as Mariner, Smith-Njigba has additionally been a member of the Yankees group, starting his professional profession as a fourth-round choose for New York within the 2017 draft. He got here to the Pirates as a part of the four-player commerce package deal for Jameson Taillon in January 2021.
Over 686 profession plate appearances on the Triple-A degree, Smith-Njigba has hit a stable .273/.366/.439 whereas hitting 16 homers and stealing 29 bases in 37 makes an attempt. He isn’t significantly quick regardless of these good base-stealing numbers, and Smith-Njigba has primarily performed the 2 nook outfield positions aside from a handful of appearances in heart discipline. Smith-Njigba can also be a left-handed hitter and the Pirates are at present loaded with right-handed bats, regardless that the outfield (left-handed hitting Jack Suwinski and switch-hitter Bryan Reynolds) has extra steadiness.
This isn’t the primary time Sanchez has been outrighted off a 40-man roster, so the catcher has the best to reject the Pirates’ project and re-enter free company. There hasn’t but been any phrase on whether or not or not Sanchez will stay within the group, although he’s at present the one catcher in Indianapolis with any huge league expertise and could be the primary call-up if both of Henry Davis or Jason Delay was injured.
Sanchez’s tenure in MLB isn’t precisely huge, as he debuted with 5 video games with the Mets in 2020, two video games with the Cardinals in 2021, and he hasn’t since returned to the Present. The 27-year-old has spent a lot of his profession within the Mets’ farm system, however has since bounced round to a number of groups looking for catching depth. That is technically Sanchez’s second stint with the Pirates, as he was claimed off waivers from the Tigers in October 2022 solely to be claimed away once more a few months later by the Diamondbacks with out ever really suiting up for Pittsburgh in a professional sport.
The Pirates signed Sanchez to a assured Main League deal this previous December, maybe as an acknowledgement of his robust .311/.375/.492 slash line over 267 PA in 2023 with Arizona’s Triple-A affiliate within the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. The catcher is out of minor league choices, so the Bucs needed to designate Sanchez for project so as to take away him from the 40-man.