The Pittsburgh Pirates will return a familiar face on Wednesday, although fans probably won’t be happy about the reunion.

According to a report from Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Pirates will take on the contract of right-hander Jake Woodford, who will start Wednesday against the St. Louis Cardinals. Woodford is currently on a minor league contract, so the Pirates will have to make a corresponding move to add him to their 40-man roster, which is currently full.

Woodford was designated for assignment by the Pirates in August after allowing eight runs (six earned) on six hits in his last spot start against the Cincinnati Reds. He was claimed off waivers and returned to Triple-A Indianapolis, where he has allowed three earned runs in nine innings since his last MLB appearance. For that reason, the Pirates are trusting him to start against his former club.

That’s a bold move by Pittsburgh considering Woodford has posted an 8.01 ERA and a 1.62 WHIP in 30.1 innings in the big leagues this season between the Chicago White Sox and Pirates. But the Pirates need someone to eat up innings while giving their five-man rotation of Paul Skenes, Jared Jones, Mitch Keller, Luis Ortiz and Bailey Falter an extra day of rest between starts. Unfortunately, if Woodford’s last start is any indication, Wednesday could turn into a bullpen game pretty quickly.

Nick Yorke of the Pirates gets his first MLB hit against the Cardinals and then quickly records two more

Nick Yorke played in just his second MLB game on Tuesday, getting his first major league hit – a line-drive single to center field – against Cardinals right-hander Lance Lynn in the fifth inning. Although the Pirates lost 3-1, Yorke got his second and third hits before the end of the night.

Yorke hit his second hit the other way, hitting a single to right field by Ryan Fernandez, and capped off the night with a final single to center field by Cardinals All-Star closer Ryan Helsley in the ninth inning.

After going 0-for-3 with a stolen base in his major league debut on Monday, Yorke provided plenty of optimism for the future with his prolific hits on Tuesday. He also shined on defense at second base, fielding a grounder from Thomas Saggese with a runner on third base and helping Falter pitch a leadoff double in the second inning.

Pirates’ Endy Rodriguez scores two hits in his return to Triple-A Indianapolis

In his first game for Triple-A Indianapolis as he continues to recover from Tommy John surgery, Pirates catcher Endy Rodriguez batted 2-for-4 with an RBI on Tuesday. His return to Indianapolis follows his season debut on Sept. 10 at Double-A Altoona, where he batted .208 (5-for-24) with four runs, a double, an RBI and a walk in six games to begin his rehab assignment.

After recovering from an injury sustained in winter ball in December, Rodriguez was announced as not playing in the major leagues this season; in fact, it was questionable whether he would play at any level this year. However, his progress during his rehab assignment suggests he is on track to compete for a spot on the MLB roster in 2025.

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