Catcher Rene Pinto has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Reno by the Diamondbacks, according to Alex Weiner of AZ Sports. Pinto does not have the requisite service time or previous outright necessary to reject the assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization as non-roster depth going forward.
Pinto entered camp with Arizona in the mix to back up Gabriel Moreno alongside Adrian Del Castillo and Jose Herrera. The job ultimately went to Herrera, which necessitated the club designating Pinto for assignment as he had no minor league options remaining. The 28-year-old signed with the Rays out of Venezuela as an amateur and made his pro debut back in 2014. He’s spent his entire pro career in a Rays uniform prior to this winter, when the Rays DFA’d him in November and he was claimed off waivers by the Orioles. He stuck with Baltimore throughout much of the offseason but was DFA’d once again to make room for Charlie Morton on the club’s 40-man roster, at which point he was claimed by Arizona.
Pinto made his big league debut with the Rays back in 2022. The cup of coffee lasted only 25 games, and he hit just .213/.241/.325 during that time. Despite that meager performance in the majors, however, Pinto turned in a strong season at Triple-A as he slashed a strong .266/.320/.521 across 73 games at the level. That was enough to earn Pinto additional opportunities in Tampa, and he generally performed much better in them. 2023 saw Pinto appear in 38 games in the majors, hitting a respectable .252/.267/.456 with six homers in just 103 trips to the plate.
That intriguing combination of power and strong defense behind the plate was enough to make the Rays comfortable making Pinto their starting catcher to open the 2024 season. Unfortunately, Pinto didn’t last very long in the role. While he hit a respectable .214/.292/.429 that clocked in above league average over 19 games, those would be the only 19 games Pinto would play in the majors last year as he ceded playing time to a tandem of Ben Rortvedt and Alex Jackson. The catcher didn’t exactly go on to make a case for himself to get another shot in the majors upon being optioned to Triple-A, either, hitting just .191/.257/.373 in 53 games for the club’s Durham affiliate.
Now that Pinto has cleared waivers and been outrighted to the minors, he likely stands as the next man up to help out behind the plate in the event of an injury to either Moreno or Herrera. Normally, that role would appear more likely to go to Del Castillo given that he remains on the 40-man roster while Pinto does not, Weiner notes that Del Castillo has been placed on the minor league’s 7-day injured list. It’s unclear what ailment is bothering Del Castillo or how long he’ll be out of action at this point, but until he returns he won’t be able to serve as a fill-in catcher in the majors fro the Diamondbacks.