{"id":115276,"date":"2026-03-07T23:40:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-08T04:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=115276"},"modified":"2026-03-07T23:40:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-08T04:40:21","slug":"tyler-callihan-role-pittsburgh-pirates-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/07\/tyler-callihan-role-pittsburgh-pirates-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"How One New Acquistion Could Fit Into the Pirates\u2019 2026 Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates recently made a notable move, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/04\/pirates-trade-reliever-reds\/\" target=\"_self\">acquiring utility prospect<\/a> Tyler Callihan from the Cincinnati Reds. In return, the Bucs sent right-handed reliever Kyle Nicolas to Cincy. With Callihan already appearing in the major leagues in 2025, he\u2019ll definitely play a role with the Pirates in 2026. The question then becomes: what sort of role can we expect Callihan to play?<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_115288\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-115288\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"710\" height=\"473\" class=\" wp-image-115288\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2026\/03\/USATSI_26085316_168400885_lowres-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 710px) 100vw, 710px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-115288\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cincinnati Reds Tyler Callihan (32) singles on a line drive to center field, scoring Jake Fraley from third, for his first MLB career hit in the second inning of the MLB National League game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Washington Nationals at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Saturday, May 3, 2025. The Reds led 3-2 in the fourth inning. Credit: \u00a9 Sam Greene\/The Enquirer \/ USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Pirates Looking to Fit Tyler Callihan Into the Equation<\/h2>\n<h3>A Strong Start to 2025, and an Unlucky End<\/h3>\n<p>Callihan started the year at Triple-A, where he was phenomenal. His first 106 plate appearances yielded a .303\/.410\/.528 triple-slash, and four home runs. Although he struck out in over a quarter of his plate appearances, with a 27.4% strikeout percentage, Callihan offset that with an outstanding 15.1% walk rate. He also went six-for-seven in stolen base attempts. That earned him a call to the major leagues.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, his first look at the big league level did not last very long. During just his fourth game with the Reds on May 5th, Callihan nearly made an impressive catch in left field, but ran hard into the wall down the foul line. He suffered a left forearm fracture and then underwent a follow-up wrist surgery in July. He did not play a single game after this injury. However, he is back in action in spring training.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Matt Olson circles the bases, but Reds rookie Tyler Callihan was in some serious pain trying to make the play. Prayers up \ud83d\ude4f <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UhcyaJuadG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/UhcyaJuadG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Talkin&#8217; Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TalkinBaseball_\/status\/1919543425822564577?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 6, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>2025 was just yet another run of poor luck for Callihan. In 2021, he had Tommy John surgery. He was limited because of a thumb injury from a car accident. Then in 2024, Callihan broke another finger, this time while attempting to bunt. 2023 remains the only season he has appeared in 100+ games. He was a third-round pick in 2019 by the Reds.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to the trade, Callihan ranked as the Reds\u2019 19th-best prospect by <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.baseballamerica.com\/teams\/2006-cincinnati-reds\/prospects\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Baseball America<\/a>. He is a well-rounded prospect. While he has no obvious carrying tool, he does everything at a 45 to 50-grade level. When healthy, he is a potential power\/speed threat, receiving a 50-grade for both tools by BA. Callihan\u2019s arm strength can play anywhere on the field. Although he isn\u2019t an outstanding defender, he can play multiple positions without costing runs in the field. Callihan has experience all over the diamond. His primary position is second base. However, he can also play both third and first base, along with left field.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">New Pirate Tyler Callihan talks about the three surgeries on his fractured left forearm\/wrist and practicing plays in the OF corner to prevent another collision. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XA3pLlEYd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/XA3pLlEYd1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KevinGormanPGH\/status\/2030131984023073138?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 7, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h3>Callihan&#8217;s Role with the 2026 Pirates<\/h3>\n<p>Callihan could serve as a depth piece for the Pirates this year. As of right now, he\u2019d have a hard time breaking the Pirates\u2019 bench. Nick Yorke, Jhostynxon Garcia (especially with his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/03\/03\/password-jhostynxon-garcia-making-pirates-outfield-interesting\/\" target=\"_self\">strong spring training<\/a>), Jake Mangum, and one of their many catchers take up the current bench. That could get even more crowded if the Pirates start the year with Konnor Griffin in the major leagues. Nick Gonzales will also be in the bench mix if that happens.<\/p>\n<p>However, he does bring something many of the Pirates\u2019 utility bats don\u2019t, and that\u2019s hitting left-handed. Gonzales and Yorke are both right-handed. So is Jared Triolo. The only other lefty utility man the Pirates have is Enmanuel Valdez. While Valdez is also a 1B\/2B\/3B option, he has far less experience in the outfield corners compared to Callihan.<\/p>\n<p>Callihan may start the year at Triple-A Indianapolis, but he will likely be the Pirates\u2019 first call if they need a bench bat or another left-handed hitter. He brings some left-handed pop off the bench, which the Pirates did not have before the trade. The fact that he can provide depth at multiple positions only makes him a more valuable piece for the Bucs.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Pittsburgh Pirates recently made a notable move, acquiring utility prospect Tyler Callihan from the Cincinnati Reds. In return, the Bucs sent right-handed reliever Kyle Nicolas to Cincy. With Callihan already appearing in the major leagues in 2025, he\u2019ll definitely play a role with the Pirates in 2026. The question then becomes: what sort of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5765,"featured_media":115287,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"574","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1071,35],"tags":[6314,3943,6463,29204,28625,3720,3605,28666,29292],"class_list":["post-115276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pirates","category-mlb","category-news","tag-enmanuel-valdez","tag-jake-mangum","tag-jared-triolo","tag-jhostynxon-garcia","tag-konnor-griffin","tag-kyle-nicolas","tag-nick-gonzales","tag-nick-yorke","tag-tyler-callihan"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5765"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115276"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":115289,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115276\/revisions\/115289"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}