Diamondbacks claim Cole Tucker off waivers, ending former 1st-rounder's tenure with Pirates

Cole Tucker, the former Pittsburgh Pirates first-round pick who was designated for assignment Monday, was claimed off waivers Sunday by the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It’s a homecoming for Tucker, 25, who was drafted No. 24 overall as a shortstop out of Mountain Pointe High School in 2014 and makes his offseason home in the Phoenix area.

Tucker batted .211 with 18 doubles, six triples, five home runs and 35 RBIs in 154 games over four seasons with the Pirates. After losing a three-way competition for the starting shortstop job, Tucker moved to the outfield in the covid-shortened 2020 season.

Tucker split time between the infield and outfield last season, making a pair of spectacular catches while playing second base in September.

Tucker was the Pirates’ longest-tenured player heading into this season and was expected to contend for the starting job at second base but played mostly in right field after injuries to Anthony Alford and Greg Allen. Tucker missed an opportunity to start at shortstop when Kevin Newman injured his groin because Tucker was on the covid-19 injured list. Tucker was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis in mid-May after batting .175 (11 for 63) with 25 strikeouts and no walks in 18 games.

The Pirates cut ties with Tucker when he was designated for assignment on Memorial Day to make room on the roster for infielder Yu Chang, who was acquired from Cleveland for cash considerations. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington called it a “tough conversation.”

“We like Cole a lot, personally. Sometimes you just run out of time, and I think in this case we just ran out of time,” Cherington said. “We tried to give Cole as much opportunity as we could at the major-league level, and at some point you’ve got to give it to other guys if the performance isn’t there. It doesn’t mean he won’t improve and perform in the future. It doesn’t mean he’s not going to get another opportunity in the big leagues at some point, but we just felt like we’d given it as long as we could in this case and needed to give the opportunity to other guys.”