Catcher Jason Delay Selected by Pittsburgh

INDIANAPOLIS – The Pittsburgh Pirates announced yesterday that they have selected the contract of catcher Jason Delay from the major league taxi squad after reliever Duane Underwood Jr. was placed on the COVID-19 injured list. He will be the first Indians catcher to debut with the Pirates since Jacob Stallings in 2016 and will become the seventh Indianapolis Indian from the 2022 squad to be added to Pittsburgh’s active roster and make his MLB debut this season.

Delay, 27, began the season on Indianapolis’ Opening Day roster and hit .250 (16-for-64) in 22 games overall, including a .327 average in his last 49 at-bats. Thanks to his third career four-hit game – first since May 19, 2019 with Double-A Altoona vs. Harrisburg – and two doubles on May 15 at Charlotte, he hit .313 (10-for-32) with all five of his extra-base hits on the season in 11 May games.

Behind the dish, Delay started in 19 of his 22 games at catcher and registered a .984 fielding percentage (three errors in 187 total chances). He has caught 37.5 percent (six of 16) of would-be basestealers this season and 37.9 percent (11 of 29) in 33 career Triple-A games since 2021.

Delay was originally selected by Pittsburgh in the fourth round (118th overall) of the 2017 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt (Nashville, Tenn.) University.

Indianapolis’ first-time callups are presented by Franciscan Health