Pirates add RHP Jerad Eickhoff to start against Cubs, DFA reliever Heath Hembree

With Zach Thompson missing his scheduled start after being placed on the 15-day injured list, the Pittsburgh Pirates turned to right-hander Jerad Eickhoff to pitch Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs.

Thompson was placed on the 15-day injured list Monday with right forearm nerve inflammation, so to select Eickhoff from Triple-A Indianapolis the Pirates had to clear space on their 26- and 40-man rosters.

Right-handed reliever Heath Hembree, who was 2-0 with a 7.16 ERA in 20 appearances, was designated for assignment. The 33-year-old Hembree, who signed a one-year, $2.13 million contract in March, gave up multiple earned runs in three outings and finished with more walks (14) than strikeouts (12) in 16 1/3 innings.

“Any time you make a move there’s a roster casualty,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “We just thought with where we’re at with the other guys in the bullpen, we wanted to give more opportunity there. It’s unfortunate. I don’t think Heath ever found the groove that he was looking for or we were looking for, and we just decided to move on.”

The Pirates also transferred veteran outfielder Jake Marisnick to the 60-day injured list. While Marisnick was recovering from surgery on his left thumb, he was placed on the covid-19 injured list. Marisnick has been cleared to return to the team facilities.

“He’s gonna work out with the team over the next couple days, probably build up his baseball endurance over the weekend,” Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said. “Then hopefully we’re talking about him getting some minor-league at-bats some time next week.”

The 6-foot-4, 245-pound Eickhoff makes his Pirates debut after going 4-3 with a 4.84 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 13 games, including six starts, for Indianapolis this season. He recorded 47 strikeouts and 15 walks and had a .208 batting average against. Since May 4, Eickhoff is 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA in 26 1/3 innings and has been especially effective against right-handed hitters, holding them to a .194 (19 for 98) average.

Eickhoff, a 15th-round selection in 2011, has a 21-32 record with a 4.35 ERA in 85 career games (80 starts) over six seasons in the majors for the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets. Eickhoff was 0-2 with an 8.69 ERA in five games for the Mets last season, and signed a minor-league deal with the Pirates in November.

Shelton was noncommittal about Eickhoff’s role moving forward, saying the Pirates would make an evaluation after his first start.

“This is a situation where we needed a start, and he was in spring training with us, he’s pitched in the big leagues, he has the ability to get major-league hitters out,” Shelton said. “So we thought now was the best time to get a look at him.”