Right-hander has reunited with the Pirates on a minor league deal and will report to Triple-A Indianapolis, as relayed by . He was designated for a signment by the Bucs just over a week ago but had cleared waivers and elected free agency, according to his at MLB.com. Rainey, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Pirates in the offseason. He was selected to their roster in early May and spent almost a month on the roster. In that time, he struggled mightily through 11 appearances where he surrendered nine runs on seven hits and six walks while striking out six acro s 7 2/3 innings of work. A look under the hood reveals that eight of those appearances were actually scorele s, as he allowed all nine runs acro s the other three outings while combining to record just two outs in those appearances. Meltdowns like that are sure to balloon a pitchers ERA, but Rainey retained the peripherals of a perfectly decent middle reliever. He struck out 24.3% of his opponents, and while his 16.2% walk rate was definitely alarming his ability to keep the ball on the ground and mi s barrels was enough to allow him to maintain a solid 3.46 FIP and a decent 4.32 SIERA Ray Allen Jersey . Those numbers would be a marked improvement over last year, when he pitched to a 4.76 ERA and 5.42 FIP in 51 frames for the Nationals while walking 12.6% of his opponents and striking out just 19.0%. Of course, the Pirates were surely hoping to help Rainey discover the form he flashed earlier in his Nationals career when they initially signed him. From 2019 to 2023, Rainey posted a 4.39 ERA with a 4.54 FIP in his 140 appearances for the club. That includes one major outlier season, however, as 2021 saw him torched to the tune of a 7.39 ERA in 31 2/3 innings of work. Raineys ERA was under 4.00 in the other four years of that stretch, and he even got some high-leverage work in during the 2022 campaign when he collected 12 saves. If Rainey can get right, it wouldnt be a shock to see him get another opportunity for a beleaguered Pirates team that could certainly use some help in the bullpen. Their 4.22 ERA ranks 20th in baseball, and key pieces like and are currently on the shelf. , , and are a decent late-inning trio, but Pittsburgh could use more solid middle relief options than and . Of course, Rainey will need to compete with other non-roster veterans like and to capitalize on those opportunities. Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images Oscar Robertson Jersey