Kontos was designated for assignment by the Indians on Friday.

EDGE Analysis

Kontos signed a minor-league contract with the Indians in early June after being released by the Pirates, and joined Cleveland's 40-man roster within a few weeks. The 33-year-old allowed two runs over 5.2 innings during his brief stint with the Indians after posting a 5.03 ERA and 1.42 WHIP with the Pirates, and will once again be subjected to the waivers.

Kontos had his contract purchased from Triple-A Columbus on Tuesday.

EDGE Analysis

Kontos will replace the injured Evan Marshall (elbow) on the active roster and in the bullpen. The veteran reliever was let go by the Pirates earlier in the year after diminished velocity resulted in a brutal 5.03 ERA and just nine strikeouts across 19.2 innings. He'll likely start out in lower-leverage relief role, but if Kontos is able to regain a few ticks on his fastball and return to last year's form (3.39 ERA across 66.1 innings), he could work his way into a more prominent bullpen role.

Kontos signed a minor-league contract with the Indians on Sunday.

EDGE Analysis

Kontos was let go by the Pirates last week after submitting a 5.03 ERA and striking out just nine batters in 19.2 innings on the season. The right-hander's significant decline in average velocity was likely at the root of his struggles, so it's difficult to envision him rediscovering the strong form he exhibited in the past few seasons unless he regains a couple ticks on his fastball.

Kontos was placed on unconditional release waivers by the Pirates on Monday, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic Pittsburgh reports.

EDGE Analysis

The 32-year-old reliever has a 5.03 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and just nine strikeouts in 19.2 innings this season. He look to latch on with another organization, likely on a minor-league deal.

Kontos was designated for assignment by the Pirates on Friday.

EDGE Analysis

Kontos had a decent enough start to the season with five holds and a 3.14 ERA and 1.29 WHIP through his first 15 outings , although he did manage only two strikeouts over those 14.1 innings. The 32-year-old has fallen apart since, with seven runs allowed (six earned) on nine hits over his last six outings (two innings), causing the Pirates to move in a different direction.

Kontos allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits in one inning Saturday.

EDGE Analysis

The 32-year-old, who recently lost his eighth-inning role, continues to trend in the wrong direction. Kontos holds a 3.8 K/9 in 18.2 innings. His average fastball velocity has decreased every season since 2015 and sits at 90.2 mph. He's the weak link in Pittsburgh's pen, but with a relatively high salary ($2.7 mill in 2018), the thrifty organization will look for ways to right his ship before potentially designating him for assignment.

Kontos will no longer be the Pirates' setup man, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic Pittsburgh reports.

EDGE Analysis

Kontos was not putting up numbers suitable for a setup role, recording a 4.58 ERA through 17.2 innings and striking out just 8.9 percent of batters. The Pirates will use a setup by committee approach for now, meaning Kontos is no longer a likely choice to pick up save opportunities should closer Felipe Vazquez suffer an injury.

Kontos (1-2) allowed one run on two hits and one walk in one inning Friday in Philadelphia.

EDGE Analysis

The Pirates have trusted Kontos in late-inning, high-leverage situations, but he hasn't pitched very well, registering a 5.00 ERA and 1.44 WHIP through nine outings (nine innings). Although the 32-year-old has collected one save and two holds, he'll need to pitch better to remain the bridge to closer Felipe Vazquez.

Kontos threw one shutout inning and earned a save in Monday's win against the Twins.

EDGE Analysis

Felipe Rivero, Pittsburgh's typical closer, was used in both games of Sunday's doubleheader against the Tigers. As a result, Kontos had the chance to earn his first save of the season. Although he didn't log any strikeouts, he managed to retire each of the three batters he faced. While Rivero will see the bulk of the club's save opportunities over the course of the season, the expectation is that Kontos will be used in plenty of high-leverage situations out of the bullpen.

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said Tuesday that Kontos and Michael Feliz would handle most of the high-leverage work in front of closer Felipe Rivero this season, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

A waiver pickup for the Pirates last August, Kontos quickly established himself as one of the more dominant setup options upon joining the team and will be called upon to fill a key role out of the bullpen in 2018. With a 3.00 ERA and 1.14 WHIP over his 322 appearances in the majors, Kontos has always been a solid reliever, but the elevated strikeout rate he posted a season ago now puts him on deep-league and NL-only fantasy radars for the first time in his career. Rivero looks to have plenty of security as closer after a superb 2017 campaign, but Kontos could be first in line to handle the ninth-inning role if anything should happen to Rivero.