Pirates Add Catcher to Taxi Squad Before Cubs Series
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates head into an important homestand with a potential change at catcher.
The Pirates have catcher Shawn Ross on the taxi squad ahead of their series opener vs. the Chicago Cubs at PNC Park on July 24 and is in the clubhouse.
The taxi squad is an informal term on a player who is between both Triple-A and MLB, and is not officially activated yet, but is available for the team to do so and can do it quickly.
Pittsburgh doesn't have an apparent catcher injury, with Henry Davis taking batting practice ahead of their upcoming game, but potentially there may be another move with Rafael Flores Jr. and his health. Manager Don Kelly will confirm the reasoning when he speaks ahead of the game.
Background on Shawn Ross
Ross has been on the Pirates taxi squad before, but never activated and has not made his MLB debut yet.
He is also not on the 40-man roster, so if the Pirates activated him, they would need to place someone on the 60-day injured list, or designate someone for assignment, as the 40-man roster is full.
Ross has split time between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis in 2026, batting .181/.325/.432 for an OPS of .757 in 55 games, with 28 hits in 155 at-bats, nine doubles, 10 home runs, 25 RBI and 33 walks to 72 strikeouts.
Most of his success at the plate this season came at Altoona, where he hit seven home runs in 22 games for a .614 slugging percentage and a 1.017 OPS.
The benefit of having Ross around is that he has experience catching the Pirates pitching staff, working with them in Spring Training and also having familiarity with them in Triple-A.
Some of these pitchers include Wilber Dotel, Jared Jones, Isaac Mattson, Bubba Chandler, Braxton Ashcraft and others.
Ross has been with the Pirates since the 2023 season, as he signed a minor league contract with the team in December 2022.
He spent his first two seasons, 2023 and 2024, with High-A Greensboro, and has split both of the past two seasons with Altoona and Indianapolis.
Ross has never really hit all that well in the minors, slashing .188/.319/.416 for an OPS of .735 in 270 games, so this is isn't a promotion, rather, just bringing up someone that can play catcher if the Pirates need it.
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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.