Pirates Officially Promote Roansy Contreras; Ke’Bryan Hayes Lands on 10-Day IL

Roansy Contreras, one of the Pirates’ top prospects in the system, has officially been called-up by the team to make his Major League debut against the Cubs on Wednesday night. He will become the youngest pitcher to start a game for the Pirates in 17 years. To make room for him on the active roster, Ke’Bryan Hayes was placed on the 10-day injured list with general wrist soreness.

Contreras will make his debut after just one start with Triple-A Indianapolis. In that start, he went 3.2 innings and gave up one run on four hits, walked a batter and struck out six. In 12 starts with Double-A Altoona, Contreras posted a 2.65 ERA in 54.1 innings pitched. He only yielded 37 hits and 12 walks and struck out 76.

The Pirates’ sixth-best prospect according to MLB Pipeline offers a four-pitch mix – a fastball, changeup, curveball and slider. Standing 6’0 and 175 lbs., Contreras’ fastball is consistently in the mid-90s, and his changeup is considered his best off-speed offering. The curveball and slider have both gotten sharper as Contreras has gotten more experience in his career.

Roansy Contreras leads all of MiLB with 22 strikeouts 😳 pic.twitter.com/TUOdkZW8p0

— Young Bucs (@YoungBucsPIT) May 14, 2021

Acquired from the Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade, Contreras missed almost two months with a right forearm strain. Since he’s returned to action, he has been on a limited pitch count not exceeding 65 pitches in his four starts since being activated off the injured list.

Hayes’ season comes to a close after landing on the injured list. It was not the season that Hayes or the Pirates necessarily envisioned as he battled through injuries that limited him to just 96 games. Hayes will finish the season with a .257 average, a .689 OPS, six homers and 38 runs batted in. Even with the lackluster showing on offense, Hayes flashed his Gold-Glove caliber defense as he was responsible for 15 defensive runs saved despite the limited season.

The wrist soreness is unrelated to Hayes’ previous injuries, and based off of director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk’s comments, it does not seem to be anything too serious. The issue also does not involve the hamate bone which is usually a lingering issue, so a sigh of relief for both Hayes and the team. The Pirates chose to play it safe with only five games remaining on the 2021 season by shutting down their third baseman.