The Pirates optioned Brannigan (nose) to Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday.
Brannigan has been out of action since suffering a fractured nose after being hit in the face by a bad hop in his Grapefruit League debut back on Feb. 22. The injury isn't considered significant, but it's an unfortunate setback after the 24-year-old infielder missed the final three months of the 2025 season while recovering from shoulder surgery. The Pirates haven't revealed if Brannigan will be ready for game action by the time spring training concludes, so he could open the season on Indianapolis' 7-day injured list.
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Pirates' Jack Brannigan: Seeing specialist for nose injury
Rotowire
Brannigan will visit a specialist after suffering multiple injuries to the nasal complex when he was struck by a bad hop Sunday, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Brannigan was re-examined by team physicians Monday and the damage appears to be confined to the nose area, but he will examined by a specialist just in case to rule out orbital fractures. The 24-year-old is also coming back from surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder, which he had last July. Brannigan should be considered day-to-day for the time being.
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Pirates' Jack Brannigan: Exits after being struck by ball
Rotowire
Brannigan (face) was removed from Sunday's Grapefruit League game versus Philadelphia after being hit by a batted ball, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.
Brannigan started the split-squad game at third base but was replaced in the second inning after being hit in the face by a groundball, per Anthony Murphy of DKPittsburghSports.com. He subsequently underwent examination and treatment by local and team medical staffs. Jesus Castillo entered the game for Brannigan.
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Pirates' Jack Brannigan: On mend from labrum surgery
Rotowire
The Pirates announced last week that Brannigan underwent season-ending surgery to repair the labrum in his right shoulder, Noah Hiles of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
Double-A Altoona initially placed Brannigan on the injured list June 14 before the Pirates determined just over a month later that he would need an operation to address his shoulder injury. The 24-year-old infielder is expected to make a full recovery in advance of the next season, but he'll finish the 2025 campaign with a .225/.329/.358 slash line to go with five home runs and nine stolen bases across 237 plate appearances with Altoona.
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Pirates' Jack Brannigan: Sidelined at Double-A
Rotowire
Double-A Altoona placed Brannigan on its 7-day injured list June 14 due to an unspecified injury.
The 24-year-old shortstop slashed .225/.329/.358 with five home runs and nine stolen bases over 237 plate appearances for Altoona this season before landing on the shelf.
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Pirates' Jack Brannigan: Taking hot bat to AFL
Rotowire
Brannigan will play for the Salt River Rafters this year in the Arizona Fall League.
Brannigan went on a tear to close the regular season, slashing .299/.382/.605 with 12 home runs and seven steals in 38 games after getting promoted from Single-A Bradenton to High-A Greensboro. He played 47 games at third base, 27 games at shortstop and 11 games at second base this year and will turn 23 years old during spring training. Given his age and 33.5 percent strikeout rate at High-A, there's reason to be skeptical of him hitting enough in the upper levels of the minors to profile as a big-league regular.
