Pirates claim catcher Ali Sanchez, reliever Beau Sulser off waivers, DFA catcher Jose Godoy

Catcher is expected to be one of the positions of priority to be addressed by the Pittsburgh Pirates this offseason, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they turned to the waiver wire for depth.

The Pirates made a pair of waiver wire claims Tuesday, adding catcher Ali Sanchez from the Detroit Tigers and right-handed pitcher Beau Sulser from the Baltimore Orioles and designated catcher Jose Godoy for assignment, per the team’s transactions page.

Sanchez joins Zack Collins, Jason Delay, Tyler Heineman and Roberto Perez to give the Pirates five catchers on the 40-man roster, although Perez is headed for free agency and Collins played mostly at first base.

Sanchez, 25, spent the majority of last season in Triple-A, split between St. Louis Cardinals-affiliate Memphis and Detroit-affiliate Toledo, and slashed .262/.354/.389 with 14 doubles, six home runs and 33 RBIs.

The 6-foot-1, 200-pounder, a native of Venezuela, adds a right-handed bat to the lineup who has seven games of major league experience between the New York Mets in 2021 and Cardinals last season, where he was 2 for 4 with two doubles in two games.

Sulser, 28, returns to the Pirates’ bullpen after being claimed off waivers by the Baltimore Orioles last summer. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder had a 3.63 ERA in 22 1/3 innings over 10 relief appearances between the two teams. He had a 3.72 ERA with 10 strikeouts and six walks in four games with the Pirates, who drafted Sulser in the 10th round out of Dartmouth in 2017.

Godoy, 28, appeared in eight games for the Pirates last season after being claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Twins. He batted .333 with one double, three homers and 12 RBIs in 10 games at Triple-A Indianapolis but was 1 for 17 (.059) in eight games with the Pirates.