Pirates DFA former 1st-round pick Cole Tucker to make room for newly acquired Yu Chang
The Pittsburgh Pirates formally announced the trade with the Cleveland Guardians for corner infielder Yu Chang — and it came at the expense of a former first-round pick.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Pirates designated infielder/outfielder Cole Tucker for assignment Monday morning.
Tucker, their first-round pick (No. 24 overall) in 2014 out of Phoenix Mountain Pointe High School, once was considered their shortstop of the future.
Tucker made a smashing debut against the San Francisco Giants on April 20, 2019, at PNC Park, shortly after shortstop Erik Gonzalez broke his collarbone in an outfield collision with center fielder Starling Marte.
In the fifth inning, Tucker hit a two-run home run, which proved to be the game-winner in a rain-shortened 3-1 win, and received a curtain call from the crowd of 17,663.
In 154 games over four seasons with the Pirates, however, Tucker never got his bat going. He slashed .211/.259/.314 with 18 doubles, six triples, five home runs and 35 RBIs.
With 2015 first-rounder Kevin Newman starting at short, the Pirates experimented with Tucker in the outfield in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season and at second base last September.
Tucker was batting .175 (11 for 63) with one double, one triple and two RBIs, and also had 25 strikeouts and zero walks, when the Pirates optioned him to Triple-A Indianapolis on May 12 and recalled Rodolfo Castro.
To make room for Chang on the 26-man roster, the Pirates optioned infielder/outfielder Hoy Park to Indianapolis.
Kevin Gorman is a TribLive reporter covering the Pirates. A Baldwin native and Penn State graduate, he joined the Trib in 1999 and has covered high school sports, Pitt football and basketball and was a sports columnist for 10 years. He can be reached at kgorman@triblive.com.
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