Additionally, other reinforcements may be returning to an offense that probably can’t get worse.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have claimed 28-year-old INF/OF Michael Helman off waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals and have made room for him on the 40-man roster by moving INF Enmanuel Valdez from the 10-Day IL to the 60-Day IL, according to the Pirates X account. Valdez played a lot of first base for the Pirates in 31 games before being sidelined due to a left shoulder injury.
The Minnesota Twins drafted Helman in the 2018 MLB Draft in the 11th round out of Texas A&M. He spent his entire career with the Twins organization until he was traded to St. Louis in February for cash considerations. Helman had a whiff of Major League action last season with Minnesota, appearing in nine games and getting three hits in ten at-bats.
In 72 games in AAA St. Paul in 2024, Helman slashed .271/.350/.487 with 14 home runs, 47 RBI, and an .838 OPS. Helman drew 29 walks and struck out 76 times. He played under 100 games in back-to-back seasons due to a left shoulder dislocation in 2023 and two IL stints due to hamstring strains in 2024.
Despite his most successful season at the plate in AAA last season, he has had quite a rough start to this year in a small sample size with AAA Memphis. Helman only has 12 hits in 73 ABS, slashing .185/.260/.292 with a .553 OPS. He hit his first homer of the season on Sunday afternoon, which hopefully he’ll take with him as a positive as he presumably heads to AAA Indianapolis to try and make his way up to a Pirates offense that can use any positive production at this point.
That Bucco offense reached a franchise record 19 games in a row scoring four runs or less after another low-scoring one-run loss to the New York Mets, wasting back-to-back outstanding outings from Paul Skenes and Mitch Keller. Going into Wednesday night’s game, the Pirates are third in MLB with 20 quality starts behind playoff-contending Philadelphia (21) and Kansas City (23), but the Pirates’ abysmal offense and mediocre bullpen have sunk them near the bottom of baseball with a 14-29 record.
New skipper Donnie Kelly may soon have some reinforcements in the lineup, although it may be too little, too late for the 2025 season. The Pirates announced that C/1B Endy Rodriguez is beginning a rehab assignment today in AAA Indianapolis. He certainly wasn’t lighting the world on fire to start the season. Still, anything he can do is better than Henry Davis, who continues to struggle mightily. 2B Nick Gonzales, who fractured his ankle after hitting a home run on Opening Day, and 1B Spencer Horwitz, recovering from offseason wrist surgery, are in Indianapolis and should be starting their assignments soon as well.