Pirates Roster Moves: Bucs Promote Chris Leroux

The Pirates have demoted Brad Lincoln and recalled reliever Chris Leroux. Lincoln was only up to start one of the games in the Bucs' doubleheader on Saturday, so the Pirates will send him back down and have him continue starting at Indianapolis. They demoted Tim Wood to make room for him, so essentially what they've done here is replace Wood on the big-league roster with Leroux. 

Wood had good numbers at Indianapolis, but he struggled with walks in his brief trial at the major-league level and badly blew a couple of games (including Friday night's game against the Nationals); his demotion was well-deserved. Leroux might not be any better, but he posted pretty good numbers at Indianapolis, with 40 strikeouts in 45.1 innings, so he's worth a shot. The Pirates have shown some faith in him in keeping him on their 40-man roster despite a statistical profile that wasn't especially impressive before this year, but this year, he has earned his shot.

Also, the Pirates sent Ronny Cedeno to the 7-day DL with what appears to be a concussion, and they've recalled Pedro Ciriaco to take his place. If the pattern we've seen so far this year continues, Ciriaco will almost never play. Brandon Wood will likely get most of the at-bats at shortstop while Cedeno is out.