Backup catcher Jacob Stallings sees first action of season for Pirates

The final member of the 25-man Pittsburgh Pirates Opening Day roster is making his season debut.

Jacob Stallings was in the lineup batting seventh and at catcher for Saturday’s home game against the Cincinnati Reds. The 29-year-old is the organization’s No. 3 catcher but made the club at the end of spring training because No. 2 catcher Elias Diaz is on the injured list with a virus. Francisco Cervelli started each of the Pirates’ first six games.

Stallings is in his eighth season as part of the organization, and he appeared in 24 MLB games over the previous three seasons with a .288/.333/.667 slash line. But Stallings’ value to the Pirates comes more from the years of experience across the organization that he has working with Pirates pitchers, as well as his proven ability in his preparation to be ready on short notice.

“(No one) has any idea of the job he has done just showing up, having to be ready because of the games Francisco’s scratched or come out or Diaz’s case — you’re basically on-call,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “What was the old group of the Minutemen? There are times he needs to be ready in a minute, and to go in and engage and catch up in the middle of the game — not ‘catch up’ but be ‘on spot.’ He has to be ‘point-on’ at the time he enters the game. Or at 5:45 p.m., ‘Hey, you need to go and fold right in.’ ”

Other than his MLB stints, Stallings has spent the previous three seasons at Triple-A Indianapolis, hitting .265/.313/.396 at that level. He made seven starts for the Pirates last September.

“The pitchers have confidence in him. He’s got confidence in them. There’s experience and time spent with each one of them,” Hurdle said. “So it adds tremendous value to what we do, and the confidence we have in him to keep Francisco down and give him the rest he’s going to need.”

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