Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Pittsburgh Pirates have recalled veteran outfielder Felix Pie today and optioned Ryan Reid to Triple-A Indianapolis. Pie will be in the lineup tonight batting lead-off and playing in left field. To make room for Pie on the 40-man roster, the Pirates had to place Wandy Rodriguez on the 60-day DL.
Overall, Pie’s numbers don’t look great this season, with just a .250/.325/.390 slash line in 354 at-bats. However, Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said today that Pie’s bat is “starting to play better recently”, and the numbers back that statement up. Over his last 10 games, Pie has a .344/.364/.469 line.
Pie does provide value despite not being a very good player. The value he provides is speed. In Triple-A this season, Pie has 38 stolen bases. He likely wouldn’t have been called up if not for starting left fielder Starling Marte‘s injury that he suffered in the 16-inning loss a few days ago against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Pirates’ first two options to promote would have been Alex Presley and Andrew Lambo, but both still are not eligible to return to the big league club due to the 10-day rule.
When drafted, Pie was a very highly ranked prospect. Unfortunately for him, he never lived up to his potential and is now just a fourth outfielder at best. Hopefully the Pirates will at least be able to get something out of him before he is inevitably optioned back to Triple-A Indy to make room for a more valuable player, like a Presley or a Lambo.
