Pirates Lose OF To Broken Wrist; Call Up Starting Pitcher

One man's hard luck is another man's opening. That's the way it works in major league baseball, fair or not. Only four days after a memorable major league debut,  Pittsburgh Pirates rookie outfielder Canaan Smith-Njigba fractured his wrist, and has been placed on the 60-day IL. 

In his place, the Pirates have selected 28-year-old left-hander Cam Vieaux from Triple-A Indianapolis to make his own big league debut.

For Smith-Njigba, the fracture is especially heartbreaking. Only two days earlier, he had stepped up to the plate to pinch-hit in the 9th inning for his first at-bat in The Show. 

For Canaan Smith-Njigba, game one was very special. He made a pinch-hit appearance in the 9th with two outs.

It was his MLB debut.

He ripped a double to the left-center gap.

He spoke about it after. Check it out. -RI pic.twitter.com/B8CzPL9UAg

— AT&T SportsNet™ PIT (@ATTSportsNetPIT) June 14, 2022

All he did was stroke a double, with his whole family on hand. "I'm happy that everyone came in and got to see my first big league hit. I'm just very happy to be here, honestly."

Unfortunately, he'll have to watch from the sidelines for the next two months. 

Vieux is a 28-year-old lefty who's been toiling in the minors since 2014. He's putting together a nice season in the bullpen in AAA, with a 2.28 ERA and a sparkling 0.90 WHIP. 

Photo Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports