Pirates send Wil Crowe to 15-day IL, select contract of Cody Bolton

The Pittsburgh Pirates absorbed another injury to the bullpen Wednesday afternoon, with reliever Wil Crowe placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 23, because of right shoulder discomfort.

The 28-year-old Crowe (0-1, 4.66 ERA) is in his third season with the Pirates. This year, he has appeared in five games, all out of the bullpen, recording nine strikeouts, nine walks and nine hits through 9²⁄₃ innings.

Crowe’s role with the Pirates has changed considerably in the span of just a few seasons.

In 2021, as a part of the team’s starting rotation, Crowe led the Pirates with 25 starts, going 4-8 with a 5.48 ERA before moving to the bullpen last season.

Last year, he found a home as the Pirates’ setup man to closer David Bednar and went on to step into Bednar’s ninth-inning role when the 2022 All-Star landed on the injured list in August.

But late-season struggles have followed Crowe into 2023, with manager Derek Shelton generally avoiding using him in high-leverage situations.

Crowe joins fellow righty Chase De Jong (lumbar strain, 15-day IL), who is rehabbing with Triple-A Indianapolis, and left-hander Rob Zastryzny (left elbow discomfort, 15-day IL) as the Pirates relievers currently out of action.

Replacing Crowe in the bullpen is Cody Bolton, whose contract was selected by the Pirates. The 24-year-old is now in line to make his major-league debut.

With the Indians this season, the right-handed Bolton is 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA through eight games and 11 1/3 innings pitched, having struck out 14 batters with only a pair of walks.

Bolton was selected by the Pirates in the sixth round (178th overall) of the 2017 MLB Draft.

Since then, he has worked his way up the club’s farm system, advancing to Double-A Altoona in 2019.

But Bolton’s journey to the MLB has not been without adversity.

For starters, there was the covid-caused cancellation of the 2020 minor-league season. Then a knee injury suffered in the spring of 2021 required surgery and kept him off the baseball diamond for the year.

But Bolton, who in 2021 had risen to the No. 10 overall prospect within the Pirates’ minor-league system, bounced back last year, splitting time between the Indians’ rotation and bullpen.

Despite another stint on the IL over the summer, he went 4-2 with a 3.09 ERA over 30 appearances (14 starts).

“He’s pitched his way into deserving to be at the major-league level,” manager Derek Shelton said. “We transitioned him from a starter, going hybrid and now kind of a multi-inning reliever but he’s pitched really well … We’re excited to add him into the group.”

Bolton, who will wear a No. 67 jersey, arrived in Pittsburgh on Wednesday evening before the Pirates and Dodgers played the second of their three-game series at PNC Park.

• The corresponding roster move to Crowe’s placement on the IL and Bolton’s call-up was optioning outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba back to Indianapolis. Smith-Njigba earned a spot on the Pirates’ Opening Day roster following an impressive spring training, but through 32 at-bats over 14 games, the 23-year-old is 4 for 32 (.125) with 16 strikeouts, four walks and five RBIs. Shelton was complimentary of Smith-Njigba’s body of work that led to him snatching a spot on the roster but emphasized that for now, he’ll be utilized more regularly with the Indians. “It was important for Canaan to get down and play,” Shelton said. “He needs to play. His at-bats are sparing right now, and we have other people that are performing. The strongest message (I gave) to him is that I think he’s really going to help us this year, and I think he’s going to be a good big-league player.”

• The Pirates on Wednesday activated outfielder Bryan Reynolds, who was placed on the bereavement list Sunday, in a fittingly time-conscious move, given the club formally announced his franchise-record eight-year, $106.75-million contract the same afternoon. Reynolds, 28, is batting .294 with five home runs and a team-high 18 RBIs in 22 games played.

• To make room on the 40-man roster, catcher Tyler Heineman was designated for assignment.