The Pittsburgh Pirates traded right-handed reliever Kyle Nicolas to the Cincinnati Reds for utility prospect Tyler Callihan in the first week of March. The trade received very little fanfare and even drew the ire of a handful of Pirates fans because of their lack of bullpen depth. However, despite the trade having barely been three months ago, the Pirates are emerging as the clear winner of the swap.
Callihan didn’t make the greatest first impression with his new organization. The Pirates optioned him to Triple-A at the start of the 2026 season, where he batted just .223/.305/.346 with a .298 wOBA, and 73 wRC+ over 212 plate appearances. He mashed just five home runs with an 88.2 MPH exit velocity, and struck out in 26.9% of his plate appearances with a 29.3% whiff percentage. On the plus side, he walked at a 10.4% rate, but that’s about the only positive from his time at Triple-A.
Despite his struggles at Triple-A, the Pirates opted to call up Callihan when they needed an infielder after Konnor Griffin hit the IL. He has appeared in parts of seven games, accumulating 17 plate appearances, and has been very productive in the small sample size. Callihan already has four hits. All four have gone for extra bases, including two doubles and two home runs. He has also drawn five walks and has struck out just twice.
Callihan’s most recent game is one he’ll remember for a very long time. He went two-for-two with three walks against the LA Dodgers. Both of his hits were home runs, including one off of two-way Japanese star and four-time MVP Shohei Ohtani (which ended up in the Allegheny River), and the second was a three-run shot in the eighth inning that gave the Pirates the lead. His win probability added for this game came in at 0.655, which was just the 22nd time this year a player added at least 0.65 WPA to their team’s chances of winning.
Meanwhile, Kyle Nicolas is no longer even in the Reds’ system. He struggled badly in 15.2 innings at the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, where he allowed nine earned runs, 17 walks, 17 hits, and struck out 20. He only appeared in parts of seven contests for the Reds in MLB, where he let seven earned runs score, walked 13 batters, struck out only seven, and allowed eight base knocks (including a home run) in just 7.1 innings pitched.
The Reds designated the hard-throwing right-handed hurler for assignment at the end of May to make room for fellow right-handed pitcher Lyon Richardson. Soon thereafter, the Reds traded Nicolas to the Baltimore Orioles for cash. That concluded the Reds’ end of the swap. Nicolas pitched just 23 innings between the Reds MLB club and Triple-A team, where he walked 30 batters and allowed 19 earned runs to score off of him.
While the Callihan trade may not have garnered much attention at the time, his recent performance will put the swap on Pirates fans’ maps. It could end up as a huge steal for the Bucs and Ben Cherington if Callihan develops into a solid platoon utility man. The Pirates traded a reliever whose massive control issues had already led to his being let go by the Reds.
