The Pirates announced theyve claimed reliever off waivers from the Yankees. Pittsburgh designated for a signment to open a 40-man roster spot. The Bucs also recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to take the bullpen spot opened by yesterdays of . Santana, 28, signed a minor league deal with New York over the offseason. He cracked the Yankee roster within the first week of the season. Santana to sed 27 1/3 innings, typically in middle relief, in the Bronx. While he had a decent run through the seasons first month, hes run into harder times since the calendar flipped to May. Santana allowed 6.26 earned runs per nine while striking out a personal-low 16.5% of Ante Zizic Jersey batters faced altogether. The right-hander has posted an ERA above 5.00 in three consecutive seasons. Santana has neverthele s caught the attention of various teams as a middle innings target. Pittsburgh will be his fifth team dating back to 2021. Santana throws relatively hard, sitting in the 95-96 MPH range with his sinker and four-seam fastball. Until this season, that had generally translated into average swing-and-mi s rates against MLB hitters. Santana has exhausted his minor league options. Hell step directly into Pittsburghs bullpen once he reports to the team. The Pirates need to keep him in the majors or again send him into DFA limbo. Santana surpa sed the four-year service threshold this season and would be eligible for arbitration for two more years if he pitches well enough to hold the roster spot. Hernandez, a 63 southpaw, was the third pick in the 2022 Rule 5 draft. The Bucs stashed him in low-leverage relief last season to gain his long-term contractual rights from the Dodgers. While Hernandez struggled to a 4.97 ERA acro s 50 2/3 innings, his 27.8% strikeout percentage was reason for optimism that he could be a long-term bullpen piece. The 26-year-old has had a tough follow-up season, most of which has been spent in Indianapolis. Hernandez has allowed 12 runs over 15 1/3 Triple-A frames. He has fanned 21 of 75 batters faced (a solid 28% clip) but walked nine. Hernandez has been limited to 5 1/3 frames of two-run ball at the MLB level this season. His 81.6 MPH average slider velocity and 93.1 MPH fastball speed are each down more than a mile per hour relative to last year. Pittsburgh will trade Hernandez or put him on waivers within the next few days. Hes in his first of three option years and has a solid track record of mi sing bats in the minors, so it wouldnt be surprising if another team takes a low-cost flier. Alfonzo McKinnie Jersey