The Pittsburgh Pirates intend for Roansy Contreras, one of their top pitching prospects, to make his major league debut by starting against the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday at PNC Park.
The 21-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic, one of four prospects acquired from the New York Yankees in the Jameson Taillon trade in January, is ranked No. 6 among Pirates prospects by both Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. Contreras has a fastball that sits at 95-96 mph and mixes it with a changeup and curveball.
“Assuming everything goes through, our excitement level is we’re getting to take a look at one of our prospects, one of our top prospects,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “I think we temper all excitement, just like we do with any situation. But it’s just a credit to our development group as we continue to move guys forward.”
Contreras was 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA and 0.90 WHIP and 76 strikeouts against 12 walks in a dozen starts for Double-A Altoona this season. He was chosen to play in the Futures Game but missed July and August with a right forearm strain. Contreras was promoted to Triple-A Indianapolis earlier this month, and allowed one run on four hits and one walk while striking out six in a 4-3 loss at Omaha on Sept. 22.
“The reports have all been positive,” Shelton said. “I know he dealt with some health things early in the year, and again, with any of our players, it’s the most important thing. So we will take that first and foremost.”
