Weekly Report: Sad Week On the Field, Players Shaken, Not Stirred Before Deadline, O'Hearn Out Til September, Spence-Endy-Rafe Back

How ’bout that deadline shufflin’…?

Pirates Stuff: 

• The Pirates picked up vet RH reliever Camilo Doval, 29, from the NYY (3-1-1/4.54 in 44 appearances). Doval has a $6.1M contract for this season (the Yankees also included $1M+ cash in the transaction) and a another year of control. He’s posted 109 career saves with a 3.53 ERA, but New York flipped him from a back-ender to a middle-innings guy earlier in the season, so he’s at a crossroads of his MLB journey. The return pieces were C Omar Alfonzo and OF Luis Cruz from the Pirates’ Dominican Summer League roster. RHP Hunter Stratton was DFA’ed to clear roster room.
• 1B Spencer Horwitz (hammy/concussion) has been activated from rehab, RHP Camilo Doval is with the team and RHP Isaac Mattson & OF Billy Cook were optioned to Indy.
• Ryan O’Hearn injured his quad in the ninth inning of Friday’s game. The next day, he was placed on the IL with a quad strain and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks, pretty much ending his campaign.

Ryan O’Hearn – quad sprain, out 6-8 weeks photo SportsNet.Pgh

• The shuffle never ends: LHP Hunter Barco, RHP Noah Murdock & OF Jhostynxon Garcia were called up from Indy while LHP Brandon Eisert, RHP Isaac Mattson & UT Tyler Callihan were optioned to AAA. Barco got right into action and threw 73 pitches; the Bucs had a bunch of games without a break coming up, so they swapped him out via option for RHP Antwone Kelly. Kelly worked a game, was optioned back and Mattson was recalled, only to be optioned back in a flash. 
• C Endy Rodriguez had a short rehab stint; he was recalled on Monday for the D-Back series. Shawn Ross was DFA’ed and claimed by the Mets. C Rafael Flores reurned from the concussion IL on Saturday; he and Endy may see time at first now that O’Hearn is out.
• RHP Evan Sisk (elbow inflammation) began his rehab stint at Indy on Thursday; by Sunday he was with the team but not yet rostered.
• Uh-oh: Esmerlyn Valdez had to leave Monday’s game after getting plunked in the hand/wrist area. He dodged a bullet; next-day tests found no fracture, just a contusion that he played through. The news wasn’t so swell regarding Spencer Horwitz, who suffered a concussion over the weekend after being beaned while rehabbing at Bradenton. There’s no timeline yet for his return to game action.
• RHP Jose Urquidy was traded to the White Sox while DFA’ed for Rookie League RH reliever Felix Doroteo, a 21-year-old hi K, hi walk guy.

Seth may be done for the year, too – 2026 photo MLB

• RHP Seth Hernandez reported left oblique discomfort that popped up during his last outing on July 24. It was diagnosed as a sprain and he was placed on the 10-day IL; guesstimates have him out for 6-8 weeks. 
• The Pirates bought the contract of DFA’ed Norfolk (Baltimore’s AAA team) OF Jonathan Rodriguez (.276/4 HR) who debuted in 2024 and has hit .177 in 51 career games. He had a strong AAA campaign in ’25 (.312/16/101), the Bucs are looking for RH bats and OF is a strong prospect position, so a trade out of that pool of players is possible.
• J-Hey Day: Friday, August 7 is the date Josh Harrison officially retires as a member of the Pirates. The following day, the Pirates will honor Harrison with a T-shirt giveaway and then an on-field ceremony followed by Josh tossing out the first pitch v the Mets. 
• TSN is running a series on the greatest 140 players, with the first release being 10 players designated “The Immortals.” The Pirates are repped by Roberto Clemente & Honus Wagner, the Crawfords by Satch Paige and Mon Valley’s Donora by Stan Musial & Ken Griffey Jr.

Game Stuff:

• The pitching was good (props to the cavalry who spun 4-2/3 shutout frames), Brandon Lowe scored once and drove in a pair (B-Rey had the other RBI) and the Bucs took a 10-inning thrilla from the Arizona D-Backs at PNC Park, 3-2. 
• The D-Backs were cruisin’ with a 6-0 lead after seven – Bubba was the victim of some soft hits and meh Bucco D – when bang, the Bucs put up three in the eighth and three more in the ninth to send it into overtime. A two-out error by Jared Triolo gave Arizona the lead back in the 10th at 7-6; he atoned by bringing home the tying tally. But the Snakes pulled it out in the 12th 8-7, despite Brandon Lowe and Bryan Reynolds HRs.
• It was a blah finish; the Pirates dropped a 3-0 decision and the series to Arizona on Wednesday.
• The Bucs opened a four-gamer at Cincy’s GABP; the bats remained under wraps as the Reds walked off a ninth-inning 3-2 win. The good: Brandon Lowe homered; the bad: Mason Montgomery worked the 8th, using just seven pitches, but was pulled for Gregory Soto in the 9th.
• Paul Skenes was battered again and lasted just four frames. Still, Buc bats were slapping this night, and they carried the club to a 7-5 lead going into the eighth. But Wilber Dotel allowed the Reds to tie it, then Nick Gonzalez &  Brandon Lowe let Cincy win it when an inning-ending throw ended up in the OF and allowed the lead run to score. 8-7 was how it finished as the bad bullpen/bad defense combo lost another. Oh, and Ryan O’Hearn left the game on crutches…

Braxton Ashcraft – 2026 Pirates graphic

• Braxton Ashcraft was back and unfortunately so was some rain, but the game started on time and Bucs, thanks muchly to Red gifts (and drip-dry umps), were up 4-1 when a delay was called in the bottom of the sixth. The bats went silent, but Carmen Mlodzinski took over and put up three zeroes, handing it off in the ninth to Gregory Soto.
• Mitch Keller’s post-AGS mojo ran out – he traded six outs for seven runs, making for a long, rainy day in Cincy on Sunday as the Bucs lost the game 10-2 and the series.

MLB Stuff:

• After getting beat up here on Sunday, the Cubs DFA’ed RHP Jameson Taillon (2026 line: 2-6/5.92). Toronto picked Jamo up.
• The A’s DFA’ed ol’ Bucco reliever RHP Geoff Hartlieb.
• RHP Dennis Santana cleared waivers. He rejected an assignment to Indy and chose to become a free agent.
• LHP Ryan Borucki, who was released by the Giants in June, signed a minor league with Cleveland.
• LHP Bailey Falter, who the Bucs sent to KC at the ’25 deadline, was traded back to the NL as part of a Royals-Atlanta Braves deal.