It’s another moving day for Jake Woodford, who found himself designated for assignment again by the Pirates before tonight’s game.

Woodford was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis after his previous DFA’ing to pitch last night’s affair in St. Louis, where inn 4.2 innings he surrendered 4 earned runs and a homer.

In his place, the team selected the contract of Isaac Mattson, an Erie native and University of Pittsburgh graduate.

Mattson, who started the season with Double-A Altoona but has been in Triple-A Indianapolis since mid-May, won Indy’s Pitcher Of The Year award after being a shutdown option from the bullpen.

He recorded a 3.15 ERA in 60.0 innings for Indianapolis (29 games, 3 starts), with a 1.300 WHIP, 2.30 K/BB ratio, and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings.

With Altoona, he had a 3.27 ERA and 1.273 WHIP in 11.0 innings.

His numbers in Triple-A are among the best of anyone on Indy’s pitching roster. He has the second lowest ERA on the team among pitchers that have more than 40 innings to their name in red and white (ironically, the player ahead of him is Jake Woodford).

He’s sixth overall on the team in innings pitched and fifth in hits per nine innings (6.8) among players that have a double digit amount of innings to their name.

Mattson has made quite the tour around baseball over the last few years, jumping to and from various minor league levels and even dabbling in independent ball for two different stints over the last few years.

The 29-year old righty was originally a draft pick of the Los Angeles Angels, but was traded after the 2019 season to Baltimore as part of a package that sent Dylan Bundy to the Angels.

After no minor league season in 2020, Mattson got to work in the Orioles organization in 2021, starting out with their Triple-A club in Norfolk.

Mattson was promoted to the big leagues for Baltimore on three different occasions, and in each instance he was only used in relief for one game before he was re-assigned back to Triple-A Norfolk.

In those three games (which came in May, July, and August), Mattson allowed a combined 3 earned runs in 4.1 total innings. That was his only major league experience.

Not that anything really matters anymore, given the Pirates season is just down to a few weeks and that they are playing for literally nothing, but Mattson could be a temporary replacement for Kyle Nicolas, who was recently placed on the 15-Day IL.

Woodford was initially recalled from Triple-A when Nicolas first was placed on the IL, and Ben Heller was transferred to the 60-Day IL to make room on the 40-man.

When he makes his Pittsburgh debut, Mattson will be the fourth Pitt graduate to play for the Pirates.

(Featured photo from the Indianapolis Indians’ Facebook page)