Moving and shaking
Pitchers Howard, Ponce activated
After injuries depleted depth, the Pirates made moves to fill the void.
CHICAGO — While manager Derek Shelton said the Pirates are still evaluating injuries that Mitch Keller and Michael Feliz suffered Saturday night, they’re apparently serious enough to put the pitchers on the 10day injured list.
The Pirates did that Sunday before the game against the Cubs at Wrigley Field and recalled Cody Ponce and Sam Howard to take their spots. Ponce and Howard were already here because of the taxi squads that exist for the 2020 season.
Keller left the Pirates’ 4-3 loss with two outs in the bottom of the third inning after delivering a curveball in the dirt to Cubs catcher Willson Contreras. The injury was announced as left-side discomfort, though general manager Ben Cherington said on his weekly 93.7 The Fan radio show that it was an oblique muscle issue.
“He didn’t want to push it any further and was smart to say something so we could go out and get him and hopefully got ahead of it quickly enough where it’s not worse than it could have been,” Cherington said. “But he’s feeling something in that left side. It’s in the oblique area. I think sometimes with those injuries, it does take a couple days to fully declare itself.
Oblique injuries, you have to kind of let it settle to get a handle on how long it’s going to be.”
Feliz exited in the eighth with right forearm discomfort. It was less clear what happened to Feliz, although catcher Jacob Stallings seemed to indicate to the Pirates dugout that something did not look right with the reliever.
Most likely to take Keller’s spot in the rotation is JT Brubaker, who threw three scoreless innings Saturday. A 26-year-old rookie, Brubaker made his MLB debut last Sunday in St. Louis and has given the Pirates five scoreless innings, striking out seven and walking one.
“We haven’t decided that yet. It’s too soon,” Shelton said. “See how [Brubaker] bounces back with the fact that he had gone three, then we’ll kind of talk through it from there.”
Acquired in the Jordan Lyles trade last season, Ponce was 2-6 with a 4.14 ERA across three leagues last year, striking out 60 in 63 innings. He took the loss Sunday.
“He’s got really interesting stuff,” Cherington said. “He’s a big, strong guy. He’s got a good fastball-curveball mix. He’s working on a changeup. Kind of added that to his arsenal. We’re excited to see him.”
Howard is a left-handed reliever the Pirates claimed
in October. He was 2-0 with Colorado in 2019 but had a 6.63 ERA. Howard struck out 23 in 19 innings.
“We needed to add pitching [Sunday] in the wake of the injuries [Saturday] night,” Cherington said. “We’re fortunate that the taxi squad allows us to carry some extra pitchers on the trip.”
Kela cleared to return
Keone Kela finally produced the necessary negative tests for the coronavirus. and Shelton said the reliever had been cleared to work out at PNC Park.
How soon Kela returns to games remains unclear.
“I think our expectation is that he probably needs a
off the mound, facing live hitters,” Cherington said. “Again, we’re hopeful that he’s pitching for the Pirates before we know it.
“But again, we have to be mindful of where he is physically, how he’s recovering and making sure that we really are confident that he’s ready and in game shape before he consider activation. We expect it to be a few more days at least.”
Kela has not yet pitched this season because of his bout with COVID-19. After testing positive at intake in late June, Kela told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he was never symptomatic. He quarantined for more than three weeks, though he struggled to produce two negative tests at least 24 hours apart, the result of trace amounts of the virus remaining in his system.
Pirates claim pitcher
The Pirates acquired right-handed pitcher Tyler Bashlor from the Mets for cash considerations, picking up a pitcher who had been designated for assignment July 28. Bashlor, 27, has made 48 appearances over the past two years with the Mets, going 0-6 with a 5.33 ERA in 54 innings.
To make room on their 40man roster, the Pirates designated left-handed reliever Robbie Erlin for assignment.