On Thursday, Roansy Contreras turned in arguably the best start of his major-league career, going six frames of one-run ball to lead the Pirates to a 4-2 win against the Reds Thursday, part of their doubleheader split at Great American BallPark before dropping game two, 5-1.
An hour after that first game, he was optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis.
The two aren't connected. In fact, Contreras is going to stay with the team on the taxi squad, and likely will continue to until the All-Star break. After throwing just 61 competitive innings in 2021 and not having a minor-league season in 2020, the Pirates want to monitor his arm and make sure he's not overworked.