Rockies Release Former Pirates Catcher

PITTSBURGH — A former Pittsburgh Pirates catcher will have to look for opportunities elsewhere after his team cut him.

The Colorado Rockies released catcher Jacob Stallings on June 6, according to his transactions log.

Stallings played for Brentwood Academy in Brentwood, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville, before going on to play for North Carolina in college.

The Cincinnati Reds took Stallings in the 42nd round of the 2011 MLB Draft, but he returned to UNC for his senior season. He would slash .294/.388/.445 for an OPS of .834, playing 65 games and the Pirates took him in the seventh round of the 2012 MLB Draft, who he would sign with.

Stallings spent almost four seasons in the minor leagues, before the Pirates called him up on June 21, 2016, but only played in five games that season. He played in five games in 2017 and 14 games in 2018 with the Pirates, spending most of these three seasons with Triple-A Indianapolis.

He would finally play a substantial amount in a season with the Pirates in 2019, following an injury to catcher Francisco Cervelli. Stallings slashed .262/.325/.382 for an OPS of .708, with 50 hits, five doubles, six home runs, 13 RBIs and 16 walks to 40 strikeouts that season.

Stallings became the starting catcher for the Pirates in the 60-game shortened 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He started 40 of 42 games he played in, slashing .248/.326/.376 for an OPS of .702, with 31 hits, seven doubles, three home runs, 18 RBIs, 15 walks to 40 strikeouts.

He started 103 of the 112 games he played for the Pirates at catcher in 2021, marking his first and only full season with the team. He slashed .246/.335/.369 for an OPS of .704, with 92 hits, 20 doubles, one triple, eight home runs, 53 RBIs and 49 walks to 85 strikeouts.

The Pirates traded Stallings to the Miami Marlins on Nov. 29, 2021 for right-handed pitchers in Zach Thomspon and Kyle Nicolas, plus outfielder Connor Scott.

Stallings appeared in 202 games for the Marlins over the next two seasons, where he struggled. He slashed .210/.287/.290 for an OPS of .576.

He signed a one-year contract with the Rockies for the 2024 season, where he had a solid slash line of .263/.357/.453 for an OPS of .810 in 82 games.

Stallings hit poorly this season, .143/.217/.179 for an OPS of .396, before the Rockies, who have the worst record in the MLB at 12-51, released him.

He is also the son of former University of Pittsburgh men's basketball head coach, Kevin Stallings, who led the program to a 24-41 overall record and 4-32 record in the ACC over two seasons from 2016-18.

Thompson and Scott are no longer with the franchise, but the Pirates just recalled Nicolas as a part of their bullpen.