3:45pm: The Pirates have now made these moves official. Triolo’s injury was described as a lumbar spine strain.
1:25pm: The Pirates are going to promote infielder Tsung-Che Cheng to the majors, reports Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. He is already on the 40-man roster but will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Fellow infielder Jared Triolo will head to the 10-day injured list due to a lower back injury.
Cheng, 23, was an international signing out of Taiwan in 2019. His profile has a solid foundation from his speed and defense. Offensively, his approach has been leaned more to the contact-oriented side without too much power. Baseball America currently ranks him as the #19 prospect in the Pirates’ system.
He has appeared in 402 minor league games across various levels thus far in his career, with 1,684 trips to the plate. His 12.5% walk rate and 19.8% strikeout rate are both better than average, with 34 home runs in that time. Overall, he has hit .260/.359/.411 for a 117 wRC+. He has racked up double-digits steals in each year of his career. Lately, Cheng hit .353/.400/.647 in spring training but then .071/.133/.071 in five games for Triple-A Indianapolis.
Defensively, Cheng has primarily played shortstop but has also taken notable playing time at second base and occasional stints at third. He seems likely to take over Triolo’s utility role. The Bucs have had Isiah Kiner-Falefa at short, Ke’Bryan Hayes at third and Adam Frazier at second on most days but with players like Triolo, Enmanuel Valdéz and Endy Rodríguez also factoring into the infield mix. Triolo was a late scratch from yesterday’s contest due to back soreness and will now get a chance to heal up while Cheng helps fill in the gap.
Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images
Is this a rumor?
Are you a non-roster invitee?
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Let’s hope he didn’t flash his junk at anyone like that pervert Menzen.
Guess the guy wasn’t self-aware he was just a FO dweeb.
No but I am not sure he is any better than Sum-Yung Guy
I like this move – Cheng looked really good in the spring
he will fit right in with the other players since he strikes out a lot
so did Suwinski and Bae
Neither deserve to be playing in Pittsburgh but because the player development is so bad, they have to choose someone to be on the roster
Cheng’s strikeout rate is better than average, meaning he does NOT strike out a lot.
Needs to be under 5 percent for theman to be pleased
Is this a pigeon?
Have to give him credit for really forcing the issue with a blistering 1-14 with 6 Ks start in Indianapolis.
If this was April 1st I would have thought it was a joke. He is batting .071 at Indy , hasn’t found his stroke yet and they are bringing him up to face ML pitching?
He will fit right in with this lineup.
Bae Cook Williams call one of them up instead
Pan-You don’t get the point.
It is Pirates logic.
They figure that at .071 he has to do better than that.
They will be happy if he hits .150.
What I am amazed at is this guy has been on the 40 man roster for two years.
I think that this is his first year in AAA.
And they wonder why this team is so bad.
.071, he will be in competition for the worst hitter with Pham and Canario breathing down his neck
@TheMan Or his .071 average is just a ten day sample size that will normalize closer to his true talent as the season progresses. But either way the reality is he’s only going to play once a twice a week until he’s sent back to AAA within a month. So it’s also possible he gets hot (or lucky) and is sent back down with a .474 average or something. The only certainty is that you’re going to complain about the outcome, regardless of what actually happens.
as a fan of this team since 1966, I have earned the right to complain about this pathetic franchise
Cmon Jimmy. Seriously? You want to find silver linings here? Please, beyond Skenes, where are they? Beyond the feel-good story of Cutch
How is it that EVERY position player who comes through the farm here NEVER pans out?
Just explain it
In particular, take a look at how deep the Pirates were in middle infielders. NONE has proven himself here and most despite repeated tries. (And truth is, that goes for all position players)
I’m not trying to find silver linings. Just equally tired of every comment section on Pirates articles simply being a litany of unnecessary complaints instead of actual baseball discussion as I am of the ineptitude of the team. We all know and understand the state of the franchise. At least guys who have been fans since 1966 have seen success. I’m 40 years old and still waiting for that chance.
I dunno, Jimmy. I’m 65. Watched the success. Nice ancient memory that will never revisit this town. Some of that is on their tightwad owner. Some of it’s on MLB
Disagree about the complaints as from what I’ve seen, they ARE on baseball issues. Rare one sees personal comments just for the sake of b*tching
Guess I’d agree more if I saw any motivation from the owner or GM acting as an attempt to improve the team. This off season was the litmus test. They did nothing.
The lineup that produced a season high 8 runs last night is different in tonight’s game with Jack batting lead off.
He’s struck out 9 times in his last 10 plate appearances and the two players who produced 5 of those 8 runs aren’t in the lineup.
Yes this is me complaining but with good reason
come on they traded for an injured first baseman
and what did Jack do in his first plate appearance?
Struck out looking.
Yeah, Shelton, bat Jack lead off
let me ask you a question, jimmy.
Other than Skenes and perhaps Cutch, name a player that has been consistent enough this season to make positive comments about?
not to worry, Pham is competing with Jack for striking out the most in this young season
Lots of complainers. And about irrelevant stuff. Batting average doesn’t matter in early April. Lineup doesn’t matter.
Legit complaining after 6 years of drafting #1 overall top 5 top 10 trading everything not nailed down. That Pham is starting outfielder? You are dumpster diving grasping at straws for answers?
Biggest complaint is why Shelton Cherington Williams still here? Anyone think they are good? Anyone here wouldn’t have fired them already? They tried to contend make playoffs 2 years and both years won 76 games. Yet everyone still has a job.
Only thing worth complaining about is Bob Nutting. That’s the only problem they have. Until he gets lucky and hires the right management nothing else matters. They signed Pham to not only start but hit heart of the order. Nuff said.
be that as it may, playing Frazier in last night’s game when he was 3 for 18 against Gray, batting Jack in the lead offensively position and when it was apparent that Skenes didn’t have his best stuff, leaving him in the game until he had given up 5 runs, is poor management.
They have an off day on Thursday, Shelton could have used the bullpen earlier.
As much as some aren’t thrilled with Chang being promoted, he couldn’t have been worse than Frazier
No one cares about 3 for 18. That’s nothing. And they should be looking at matchup instead of stats.
It’s manager 101. Your bullpen stinks. It’s been worked hard. You have one of the best pitchers in baseball who is built to throw 100 pitches. You are losing. You keep Skenes in until he hits 100. Maybe you are a baseball genius but no other manager is taking Skenes out for some scrub Cherington found in the dumpster.
Paul and Dream GM-I agree with both of you.
Yes,this regime should have been fired long before now.
But one does have to comment on the numerous batting orders and using Jack Suwinski of all people to be the leadoff man!
How about constantly batting IKF ninth?
Shelton has reached a new low,a negative WAR as a manager,and only a doufus owner who knows nothing about baseball would keep him.
For entertainment value at least,as it is an historic low,it should be mentioned.
Apparently Shelton isn’t listening or doesn’t care.
Jack is batting lead off again in today’s game, IKF isn’t playing and Chang is his replacement
thursday is an off day, they could have pulled Skenes in the 5th.
Then again using AAA play in the field doesn’t help either
are those the same scrubs that relieved Keller today and got the win in extra innings against the Cards?
Interesting prospect, hope he can at least be a better base runner and defender than Bae.
He will K with dignity.
What’s so interesting? Looks like another all glove no bat typical pirates prospect to me. Hope for the best but no one has him as a top 100 guy
He should send a nice bottle of champagne to Yorke because without him getting injured he would not be playing in MLB.
His minor league stats don’t look even AAA worthy at the moment
Dang a week is long enough for the shark to unlock the data?
If the Pirates had split Cheng’s Triple-A time into a platoon—leveraging his .359 OBP against right-handers (assuming typical lefty splits)—they could’ve called him up earlier, pairing him with Kiner-Falefa or Frazier against righty-heavy lineups, boosting runs by ~0.3 per game over Triolo’s output (based on wRC+ gaps).
Do you have any homework to back these stats up?
Since Frazier is a LHH, my guess is no.
@pt57
Yes, he’s a left-handed hitter (career .269/.333/.400), so pairing Cheng with him against righty-heavy lineups wouldn’t be a traditional platoon (lefty vs. righty pitcher). However, the logic holds if the Pirates prioritized OBP and speed over handedness—Frazier’s .333 OBP and Cheng’s .359 OBP plus stolen bases (double digits annually) could stack a lineup’s top against right-handers, regardless of Frazier’s side. Kiner-Falefa, a righty (.261/.305/.373 career), fits the platoon mold better.
You can’t automatically assume that he will post the same OBP in the big leagues, as well as having the same OBP against lefties
Thank you for providing statistics at least but it’s still a flawed argument.
IKF doesn’t meed a platoon. .345 OBP for career.
@choof
I’m not saying he’d hit .359 up here tomorrow. The article shows his career minor league line is .260/.359/.411 over 402 games—solid, not flashy—and that 117 wRC+ beats Triolo’s 84 wRC+ by a mile. That’s not an assumption, it’s math from their actual stats. Against lefties? No split data in the article, but lefties typically dip 20-30 points in OBP against southpaws—say, down to .330ish. Still crushes Triolo’s .319 career mark. My 0.3 runs boost comes from the wRC+ gap (33 points = ~0.25-0.35 runs per game, per FanGraphs), not some blind OBP guess. Flawed? Nah, it’s just using what we’ve got—Cheng’s proven he can get on base way better than Triolo, period.
@YourDreamGM
Against RHP, he’s .312 OBP, which isn’t great and .319 against LHP. His career non-splits OBP is .314. Fangraph puts that below average, so I don’t see what your argument is.
I didn’t expect you to
@YourDreamGM
In other words, he’s terrible. Should cut him.
@choof
The “homework” exists in the article: Cheng’s 117 wRC+ (above league average) versus Triolo’s 84 wRC+ (below average) supports the ~0.3 runs-per-game boost. A 33-point wRC+ gap translates to roughly 0.25-0.35 runs per game in a lineup spot.
Old York- Are you really serious?
This guy has not hit in any league.
He may be fast and a good fielder.
But ML pitching is a lot different than minor league pitching.
They are basically giving him a taste of MLB,maybe to see if he is in over his head.
I doubt very much that he ever becomes Jose Altuve.
“York”… I’d quit while you’re ahead!!! 🙂
You’re digging yourself a hole that no-one can climb out of!!
Are you afraid that you’re going to look even more out of touch???
Give the kid a chance…
This whole issue will be cleared-up when you get Horowitz back on the line up…
@Floridacoach 2
Speaking of looking even more out of touch…
WTF is that?
And nobody expects him to become Jose Altuve. Old York was simply pointing out with factual statistics that Cheng gets on base more and therefore produces more runs than Triolo, the guy he is replacing on the active roster.
@jimmyz1
Bingo!
And what others are saying is that may be true but that was in AA and less and that does not mean that it will translate into the MLs
he will never play first base. He was brought up to platoon at secondary or shortstop due to both Gonzalez and Triolo being on IL
yeah, his 14 strikeouts and 1 walk at Indy is a strong indication of how often he gets on base
Gotta love the stats/analytics crowd.
In many cases, they’d have you believe that what you actually see isn’t real
I don’t know anything about Cheng. I hope he kills it. I agree. Give him a shot. In fact, give every kid with an iota of ability a shot because truth is, this team is going nowhere but in the vicinity of 100 losses
He’s pretty tough to beat in Mortal Kombat…
You just won the Internet for the day
Hopefully he can provide solid defense at short when needed. IKF is playing decent but doesn’t have much range
Cheng has range but his arm is a bit of an issue. Pretty much the complete opposite defensive profile of O’Neil Cruz at shortstop.
Idk how he performs. I just like his name
Its IKF not IDK but you’re a Cards fan and they aren’t very intelligent
I hope Liover Peguero figures it out.
I hope that the entire roster figures it out
After 9 games they are last in the league in runs scored and second to the Cubs in strikeouts
He has had chances to figure it out.
He is probably like several other young hitters who are better off getting traded to other organizations.
Yes I was wondering about peguero. I guess the MORON doesn’t like him
Please….Shelton, if you’re reading this, get IKF away from short. 2nd, 3rd, sure, but not SS. Cannot make any play in the hole. Cheng at SS give him the chance.
What is the over/under on whether he can hit better than Alika Williams?
Can’t be worse than Williams
I’ll take the under.
IKF I think is much better suited to be a utility man.
He,however,is a fairly decent hitter.
That is the reason why Shelton has him batting ninth.
Ikf decent hitter? Maybe compared to the rest of this line up.
Isn’t that what he should be compared to?
tonight’s lineup shouldn’t be too disappointing for the fans looking for another double digit strikeout performance by our offense
Canario, Pham and Endy are playing
Speaking’ of disappointing, Endy hasn’t shown that he can hit major league pitching and still doesn’t know the strike zone
Endy is the ultimate switch-hitter; he’s equally inept at both sides of the plate.
Paul-Dream GM may be getting his dream catcher back any day soon.
Henry is hitting worse than he did last year.
Suwinski looks no different.
Bednar is in the minor leagues.
You and George B better be ready for another rebuild soon.
Paul- That is why they think that Endy is a first baseman.
He has never hit in the ML’s.
I think George B is really Tired
excuse me, formerly known as Tiredolddude
Paul-George has to constantly change his name as he is in the federal witness protection program.
I have previously referred to him when he became Senor as “nee tiredolddude”.
I first figured it out when he became tiredolderdude.
But he is still the original and as such,like yours, I still enjoy his posts.
Batman world greatest detective? Sherlock Holmes?
Nah it’s theman3
I have never been into comic book heroes.or fantasy comics
I think that if someone offers you the over/ under on double figure team strikeouts take the over.
Dohhhhh!
Everybody Tsung Cheng tonight!
It’s amazing how virtually every position player who comes through the Pirates farm carries such uninspiring stats. Almost makes you wonder what scouts see in these guys
I figure Chang will be yet another middle infielder who does very little here
A Williams clone no doubt
all fielding and no hitting
Or what the Pirates are doing with these guys. Scouts were generally high on Henry Davis.
Oh yes, player development has been abysmal.
I see that the same “fans” who moan about every move the Pirates make are moaning again.
Tell them it’s not managements fault. Tell them how Nutting is broke again.
dkpittsburghsports.com/team/site-stuff/feed?page=0…
Richard-Unfortunately,I understand your point,but the Pirates ownership and management can do that to you.
It takes the patience of Job to feel otherwise.
Job had it a little worse, but I get where you’re coming from.
He’s a defensive first guy every team has them every talking about offense that’s not who he is or is suppose to be the pirates are not a very well run team but it’s funny how people like to complain just to complain if u really where as made as u say u are you wouldn’t be posting to a pirate news site you would just not care but most of u don’t care u just like to complain if the pirates ever did get good u would be miserable
Ok Ed, let me discount the fact that there are 3rd graders who are more adept at writing coherent prose than you are, replete with periods and commas.
Let’s say wonderful things for you
Great pierogi races
Love the hot dog launches
Beautiful ballpark
The grass is nicely manicured
Enjoyed the championships of 1971 and 1979
Enjoyed watching Bonds, Van Slyke, Bonilla, Drabek
Blyleven had a hella curve ball.
Loved seeing Clemente.
That’s all I’ve got for now
Probably is Pirates have half a dozen of them
sentence structure is necessary to get your point across and that includes using a period between sentences
Edward-Can u repeat that please?
He’s hitting .071 in AAA Edward.
We would be hard pressed to find another team that would promote a player batting .071. If anything they would be considering demoting this player back to AA soon. Welcome to Pirate world everyone.
Small sample size applies here.
3 guys lower than that. 2 at 000 Cheng upgrade
Hope he enjoys his cup of coffee
As long as he pays for it himself he can
If the Pirates can’t develop hitters, they should trade for some from their wealth of starting pitching prospects.
What wealth? Falter just a guy. No one wanted Heaney. Jones arm ready to fall off and size is turn off. Oviedo arm same. Burrows likely reliever. Ashcraft very promising but reliever risk and they need him if he is a starter. Definitely need Bubba. Solometo doesn’t have much value more likely reliever but back in starter looking. Barco promising but short on LHP so probably want to keep him. They have others but not going to get you the impact bat you need.
They traded their wealth of pitching for the 1b with the bad wrist. At least a lot of depth. 3 arms gone in 1 trade. To do another trade so soon?
Could trade Keller. Seems really well liked by teammates. Nutting would love to get rid of that salary I am sure.
I would love to know what the Pirates offer for Casas was and what the Red Sox wanted for him.
Your assessment is a worst case scenario, which is the world we Bucco fans near to live in. It would be a difficult decision if a team had interest in Chandler and offered a hitting prospect that matched Bubba’s potential. On the other hand, Skenes and Chandler at the top of a rotation sounds like an awesome 1-2 punch. Should Chandler be anywhere close to Skenes in performance, he might be more likely to sign an extension. We know Skenes isn’t going to a Bucco for life.
I was being extremely optimistic. I leaned towards Bubba Ashcraft Barco all being good starters. Chances are 1 fails. Heck 2 could. Bubba is almost as good as it gets for pitching prospects but even those fail sometimes. But of course a lesser guy could over achieve.
They had some excess depth. They traded the weakest of it to Cleveland. Can’t afford to give up much more. Doesn’t look like they will need to but if somehow they are buyers at deadline they can make a non mega trade.
They really really need Bubba. I wouldn’t want to use Falter in playoffs. Jones could be gone for 1 or 2 seasons. Keller salary makes him trade option.
Today at Indy, Chandler pitched 4 innings and struck out 8 Louisville Bat players.
Wasn’t Jared Jones mentioned as a possible return for Casas?
I would have done that in a heartbeat.
I think Dream GM is correct.Jones is not big enough to last a lot of years.
Who knows what was offered though.
I suspect we’ll be reading in the not so distant future that Jared Jones will need Tommy John surgery. This is all a moot point because everyone from Bob Nutting down to Derek Shelton are all in on the fleecing of Pirates fans. I guess that truly makes them Pirates, amiright?
yes, ownership including management are fleecing the fans and are by definition, Pirates
4 hits over 11 innings and double digit strikeouts in today’s game. They were no hit for 6 innings
A pathetic display from a manager and his coaching staff that should be ashamed and embarrassed
The Trib reported today that Harrington was optioned to Indy this morning, a corresponding move will happen tomorrow
Who are they promoting? My guess, Chandler. He struck out 8 in just 4 innings on Tuesday and was pulled after the 4th inning
They may have done it just to get a fresh arm in the bullpen.
Maybe Stratton or Burrowes.
What they desperately need is an offense with a pulse
4 hits total again last night
They are at the bottom of the league in every offensive category except strikeouts
They are second only to the Cubs