GM Ben Cherington: Pirates want to make prospect promotions 'because they've earned it'

The Pittsburgh Pirates have shown signs a youth movement is coming, with Ben Cherington placing an emphasis on the development of their top prospects with an eye toward the future.

The Pirates general manager is making moves in the present, however, based on different criteria. Performance remains a priority, though consistent effort and the way players carry themselves are important factors when considering which minor leaguers to promote.

“We want to see young players get opportunity because they’ve earned it, because they’ve performed at a level at Triple-A or accomplished development goals and they’re doing the stuff off the field we’re asking them to,” Cherington said. “Obviously, we’d like that to happen organically through earning that, performing and forcing their way on as opposed to because of injuries. But injuries are gonna happen. We know that. Sometimes that is the way opportunity opens up.”

Pirates GM Ben Cherington on the factors behind the decisions to promote young prospects like Roansy Contreras, Yerry De Los Santos and Cal Mitchell. pic.twitter.com/ARUHjmuR7G

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) May 25, 2022

Three prospects found opportunities to be promoted to the Pirates this week, when right-handed reliever Yerry De Los Santos was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday and righty starter Roansy Contreras and outfielder Cal Mitchell on Tuesday.

To make room on the 26-man roster for Contreras and Mitchell, the Pirates placed righty reliever Heath Hembree (right calf strain) on the 15-day injured list and designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach (left hamstring strain) on the 10-day IL. To make room on the 40-man roster for Mitchell, lefty reliever Cam Alldred was designated for assignment.

That Cherington has resisted the temptation to promote No. 1 prospect Oneil Cruz despite starting shortstop Kevin Newman being moved to the 60-day injured list with a groin injury has Pirates fans wondering what it will take for Cruz to get the call.

After making a strong major-league debut in two games last October, Cruz didn’t help his cause with a slow start by slashing .197/.317/.366 with five doubles, two triples, five home runs and 25 RBIs through 36 games.

Cruz also showed a resistance to playing the outfield despite the Pirates’ pleas for the 6-foot-7, 220-pounder to become more versatile. Instead, the Pirates opted for rookies Rodolfo Castro and Diego Castillo.

“It comes back to what we talked about before with timing, just wanting to see some things checked off,” Cherington said. “Really feel good he’s heading in a really positive direction. He’s so important to us. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: We would like to see him get opportunity in the major leagues, and I believe we will in 2022. For right now, we feel, for a variety of reasons, that Rodolfo and Diego Castillo are here. Those are the right guys to get time at shortstop right now. We’ll continue to assess that.”

Cherington emphasized that each call-up will be considered on an individual basis, with how prospects are meeting their developmental goals, what type of effort they are giving, whether they are good teammates and if there are opportunities for everyday playing time.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect,” Cherington said. “There are lots of guys in the big leagues helping teams win that are not perfect. It’s not about perfection, but you do want to see some progress toward a target. Then other things get layered on top of that. Aside from that, how are the other parts of their game? If it’s a position player, you wanna know that they’re going to handle the plays defensively. Effort and teammate matters. We’re always asking about that.”

Contreras and Cruz both made their major league debuts in the final week of the season last year, which Cherington said was a reward for how they responded after missing time with forearm injuries.

Contreras, ranked the Pirates’ No. 4 prospect by Baseball America and No. 6 by MLB Pipeline, was 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings over three appearances out of the bullpen before being sent down to Indianapolis to stretch out to become a starter. Even so, Cherington didn’t exactly give Contreras a ringing endorsement that he would remain in the rotation before Tuesday’s start against the Rockies.

“Well he’s one of our 14 guys here right now,” Cherington said, knowing that MLB teams will be permitted to carry only 13 pitchers at the end of the month. “He’s really important, and we’re looking forward to seeing him like we’ve looked forward to seeing any of our guys. … His pitches have gotten better, more crisp, his usage has gotten probably more consistent to who he is as a pitcher, and other things have developed too: His feel for the game, his language, it’s all coming along, and that’s fun to watch and be a part of and support.”

The moves should serve notice to Pirates players who aren’t producing — Monday’s starting lineup featured five batting below the Mendoza line — that Cherington’s patience will only last so long.

“I don’t think we have to serve it,” Cherington said. “I think all our players are really smart, aware, competitive. They know where they’re at. They know they want to perform well. And they’re pros. I think they come in here every day just trying to get better and trying to have good at-bats.”