Pirates Infield Prospect Dealing With Another Injury
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates are less than a week into Spring Training games, but one of their players already suffered an in-game injury.
Pirates infielder prospect Jack Brannigan left the game vs. the Philadelphia Phillies at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater, Fla. on Feb. 22 after taking a batted ball to the face, which hit right into his nose and resulted in a great deal of bleeding.
Dude took a 100MPH bouncer into his nose, broke it, and almost made the out at first. What a tough son of a gun, especially after seeing the blood gushing out of his nose after the play at first base pic.twitter.com/w3o9FFKKs4
— BaseballHistoryNut (@nut_history) February 25, 2026
Pirates senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk confirmed that Brannigan suffered a broken nose, according to José Negron of DK Pittsburgh Sports.
Tomczyk said that they didn't have a timeline for Brannigan and that he would need to see eye, nose and throat specialists. He did note that Brannigan suffered cartilage damage and other injuries from the play.
Injury History for Jack Brannigan
It's a tough position for Brannigan, who has dealt with injuries the last few seasons, restricting from playing as much as he would want.
He played just 59 games for Double-A Altoona in 2025, as he went on the 7-day injured list on June 14 and then the full season injured list on July 21.
Brannigan suffered a torn labrum and underwent right shoulder labrum repair surgery, which the Pirates anticipated would have him back early in 2026.
Him playing Spring Training games was a good sign and he's been with Major League Camp this spring, after the Pirates protected him from the Rule 5 Draft at the end of last season, putting him on the 40-man roster.
Brannigan also missed all of August 2024 and a month in 2023 with injury, as he's struggled staying on the field for a full season.
Jack Brannigan's Tenure with the Pittsburgh Pirates
The Pirates took Brannigan with the 83rd overall pick in the third round of the 2022 MLB Draft out of Notre Dame, where he was an All-American as a junior.
Brannigan played two games for the Florida Complex League (FCL) Pirates before playing 26 games for Single-A Bradenton, closing out 2022 by slashing. 211/.330./337 for an OPS of .667.
He started 2023 out with Bradenton, playing in 49 games and slashing .253/.398/.451 for an OPS of .849. He earned promotion to High-A Greensboro on July 21, and played in 38 games, slashing .299/.382/.605 for an OPS of .987.
Brannigan spent all of 2024 with Greensboro, but missed more than a month and a half with injury. he slashed .238/.344/.490 for an OPS of .834 in 77 games, with 69 hits, 15 doubles, two triples, 18 home runs, 53 RBIs and 40 walks to 89 strikeouts.
He spent the entire 2025 season with Double-A Altoona, slashing .225/.329/.358 for an OPS of .687 with 46 hits in 204 at-bats, eight doubles, two triples, five home runs, 30 RBIs, 25 walks to 62 strikeouts and nine stolen bases.
Brannigan has spent most of his time on the left side of the infield, with 107 starts in 114 games played at third base and 105 starts in 109 games at shortstop, with 82 appearances there the past two seasons.
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.