Pittsburgh Pirates Place Reliever Dauri Moreta on 60-Day Injured List in Slew of Roster Moves

Dauri Moreta's elbow injury was serious enough to land him on the 60-day injured list, freeing up space for the Pittsburgh Pirates to sign Michael A. Taylor.

The Pittsburgh Pirates have placed relief pitcher Dauri Moreta on the 60-day injured list, the team announced Saturday.

Moreta hitting the injured list freed up enough space on Pittsburgh's 40-man roster for the club to officially sign longtime Washington Nationals outfielder Michael A. Taylor. The Pirates also officially announced they had signed former New York Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán to a minor league contract in their slew of roster moves.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington first spoke about Moreta's elbow injury back on March 5. At the time, Cherington said he expected Moreta to be out for "a while."

While no official word has come out on Moreta's diagnosis or any potential surgery, Cherington was right to be worried a few weeks ago. The 27-year-old right-hander is now set to miss at least the next two months.

To make room on the 40-man roster, RHP Dauri Moreta has been placed on the 60-day injured list.

In addition, we have signed RHP Domingo German to a minor league contract, which includes a non-roster invitation to big league camp.

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 16, 2024

Moreta turned pro when he was 18 years old, signing as an international free agent with the Cincinnati Reds in 2015. After working his way through the club's farm system, Moreta made his MLB debut in 2021 and earned a relatively steady big league role in 2022.

The Reds traded Moreta to the Pirates in exchange for shortstop Kevin Newman in December 2022, though, giving the Dominican righty a fresh start in a new organization.

Moreta became a mainstay in Pittsburgh's bullpen in 2023, ranking second among the team's relievers with 58.0 innings pitched. He went 5-2 with a 3.72 ERA, 1.086 WHIP, 11.8 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.7 WAR across 55 games, slotting in nicely behind All-Star closer David Bednar.

Luckily for the Pirates, Cherington went out and signed signed Aroldis Chapman, Josh Fleming and Brent Honeywell earlier this offseason. Colin Holderman, Ryan Borucki and Carmen Mlodzinski are among the core pieces of last year's bullpen that are returning as well, giving Pittsburgh a decent amount of depth even without Moreta.

Still, after promising young starting pitcher Johan Oviedo underwent Tommy John surgery in the fall, losing Moreta to a long term injury would represent a significant blow to the Pirates pitching staff.

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