The Pittsburgh Pirates have optioned Hunter Stratton to Triple-A Indianapolis and will call up Michael Darrell-Hicks for Tuesday’s game. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette beat reporter Noah Hiles was the first to report this earth-shattering exchange of right-handed relief pitchers. Darrell-Hicks will arrive in Milwaukee before the Pirates take on the Brewers. The Pirates haven’t announced the moves as of this writing.
Pirates Option Stratton to Triple-A, Call Up Darrell-Hicks
Hopefully, Stratton didn’t arrange to have his mail forwarded to Pittsburgh. He was just recalled on Saturday when Ryan Borucki went on the 15-day injured list with a lower back issue. In two short stints with the Pirates this season, Stratton has surrendered seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. This included a rough inning on Monday night when he gave up three earned runs in the fourth inning.
Even so, it was likely his inefficiency rather than his ineffectiveness that caused this latest roster shuffle. He threw 40 pitches in that inning and probably wouldn’t have been available for Tuesday’s game. Similarly, Braxton Ashcraft, Chase Shugart, and Isaac Mattson are likely unavailable after extended outings in Monday’s bullpen game.
Neither Darrell-Hicks nor Ashcraft is related to John Braxton Hicks, but the addition of Darrell-Hicks gives the Pirates a ready arm in the face of an otherwise bullpen contraction. Darrell-Hicks, 27, was picked up on waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on June 13 and promptly optioned to Indianapolis. There, he pitched in two games, each resulting in a scoreless, hitless inning. That’s a big improvement over what he’d shown previously in 2025. With Triple-A Salt Lake City, he gave up 22 earned runs in 22 1/3 innings. Somehow, that got him a promotion to the Angels, where the rookie was charged with eight earned runs in 7 2/3 innings. But he’s pitching well now, and the Pirates hope Darrell-Hicks can give them the effective relief pitching that they didn’t get from Stratton on Monday.
Main Photo Credits: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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