The Pittsburgh Pirates have officially called up Steve Pearce, and have placed Brendan Donnelly on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. Donnelly's move was retroactive to April 28th, the day after he last pitched. He will be eligible to come off the disabled list on May 13th.
Pearce could take some playing time from Jeff Clement, especially with his hot hitting at AAA (.349/.452/.605 in 86 at-bats) and Clement's poor hitting in the majors (.171/.234/.329). Some might suggest a platoon between the two, with Pearce taking left handed pitchers, but surprisingly Clement has been better this year against lefties. The problem is that his numbers against left handers leave a lot to be desired, and his numbers against right handers are horrible (.133/.231/.267 in 45 AB).
I was never sold on Clement's offense, constantly saying that I thought his defense would be fine, and that offense would be the problem. I was fine giving him a shot to see what he could do, but I think he's played his way out of the starting role at this point. A month isn't enough to make a sound judgement in most cases, but when a player is hitting for a .171 average with a .562 OPS, a month is all that is needed. Clement has an option left, so he could be sent to AAA for more work.
The 2010 40-man roster/payroll page and the 25-man roster page are both updated with the move.
Pearce could take some playing time from Jeff Clement, especially with his hot hitting at AAA (.349/.452/.605 in 86 at-bats) and Clement's poor hitting in the majors (.171/.234/.329). Some might suggest a platoon between the two, with Pearce taking left handed pitchers, but surprisingly Clement has been better this year against lefties. The problem is that his numbers against left handers leave a lot to be desired, and his numbers against right handers are horrible (.133/.231/.267 in 45 AB).
I was never sold on Clement's offense, constantly saying that I thought his defense would be fine, and that offense would be the problem. I was fine giving him a shot to see what he could do, but I think he's played his way out of the starting role at this point. A month isn't enough to make a sound judgement in most cases, but when a player is hitting for a .171 average with a .562 OPS, a month is all that is needed. Clement has an option left, so he could be sent to AAA for more work.
The 2010 40-man roster/payroll page and the 25-man roster page are both updated with the move.
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