Pirates Announce Third Round of Spring Training Cuts
In this story:
PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates have made more roster decisions, as they shorten their Spring Training squad moving forward.
The Pirates announced that they reassigned eight players to minor league camp, bringing the players in Major League camp down to 46 players, or 45 active players with right-handed pitcher Jared Jones on the 60-day injured list.
Pittsburgh reassigned position players in catcher Derek Berg, outfielder Ronny Simon and infielders in Nick Cimillo, Duce Gorson, Termarr Johnson and Davis Wendzel and left-handed pitchers in Nick Dombkowski and Oddanier Mosqueda to the minor league camp.
All eight of these players are non-roster invitees, so no options were used to send them back to the minor leagues.
Overview of Players Cut From Major League Camp
Johnson, who the Pirates took fourth overall in the 2022 MLB Draft, is the most noticeable name from this list.
He has had a strong showing in the Grapefruit League for the Pirates, slashing .368/.500/.526 for an OPS of 1.026 in 12 games, with seven hits in 19 at-bats, a double and a triple, five RBI and five walks to five strikeouts.
Johnson ranks tied for second in walks, tied for third in hits and game played, plus tied for sixth in RBI on the Pirates this season.
He made three starts in the Grapefruit League, including at second base in both road games in the 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Feb. 22 and the 9-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on March 6.
Simon made his Spring Training debut in the Pirates 7-2 road loss to the Baltimore Orioles on March 11, with a groundout off the bench.
He suffered a torn labrum towards the end of the 2025 season and underwent surgery in September with a four-to-six month timeline, making March a good return.
Gorson has appeared in the second most games of any Pirates position player at 12 games, while slashing .250/.429/.250 for an OPS of .679, with four hits in 16 at-bats, an RBI, while also having five walks, tied with Johnson for second on the team, and five strikeouts.
He made one start for the Pirates at third base vs. the Detroit Tigers in the 5-3 road win on March 7, which Johnson started at designated hitter in.
Cimillo played in the most games of any Pirates position player at 13 games, while slashing .200/.200/.600 for an OPS of .800, with four hits in 20 at-bats, three runs scored, two doubles, two home runs, three RBI and six strikeouts.
Berg appeared in three games for the Pirates, with three hits in nine at-bats, a walk and four strikeouts and a home run in the 14-10 home loss to the Phillies on March 6.
Wendzel played in eight games for Pittsburgh, slashing .167/.286/.167 for an OPS of .453, with two hits in 12 at-bats.
Dombkowski made one appearance for the Pirates out of the bullpen in Spring Training, giving up a solo home run over two innings of work vs. the Phillies on Feb. 22, while also getting four strikeouts.
Mosqueda hasn't pitched in Spring Training, as he has dealt with experienced left forearm inflammation, that put him on a no-throw list for two weeks in late February, which also caused him to miss the World Baseball Classic with Team Venezuela.
Who Else the Pirates Have Cut
This serves as the third round of Spring Training cuts, with the Pirates also making other decisions on many different players.
Pittsburgh's first round of cuts saw them option both infielder Jack Brannigan and right-handed relief pitcher Ryan Harbin to Triple-A Indianapolis.
Brannigan is dealing with a broken nose he sustained vs. the Philles on Feb. 22 and Harbin suffered an arm injury to his teres major and lat musculature, which put him on the no-throw list for six weeks, keeping him out until early April.
The Pirates' second round of Spring Training cuts saw them option four right-handed pitchers in Brandon Bidois, Wilber Dotel, Thomas Harrington and Antwone Kelly, plus outfielder Esmerlyn Valdezto Triple-A, while also reassigning catcher Omar Alfonzo, right-handed pitcher Khristian Curtis and outfielder Mitch Jebb to minor league camp.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.