Pirates’ Polanco to miss Montreal road trip due to ailing shoulder

BRADENTON, Fla. — Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco will not travel with the team when it heads north Thursday for two exhibition games in Montreal.

Polanco, projected to be the Pirates’ starting left-fielder, has played in just one spring training game since returning from his run with the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic, where he hit .579 in five games.

Polanco started experiencing left shoulder discomfort after his spring appearance March 23 and has not played since. He experienced a similar issue on his throwing shoulder in 2016 and trainer Todd Tomczyk said the team is being especially cautious with his return as a result.

General manager Neal Huntington also said the team has not yet received Polanco’s visa to travel to Canada, which made it an easy decision to keep him behind.

“We feel that we are better off controlling his environment,” Huntington said. “In his case, we were leaning towards that anyway. But the passport glitch has certainly made that more likely.”

Polanco is expected to hit at the Pirates’ minor-league facility Wednesday, but no timetable for him to return to throwing has been established, putting his readiness for opening day in doubt. The Pirates begin their season April 3 in Boston.

Huntington also announced the battle for the final rotation spot is down to Tyler Glasnow and Trevor Williams after Steven Brault and Drew Hutchison were optioned to triple-A Indianapolis.

Hutchison, who came over from the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline in 2016, had a 10.02 ERA in six appearances this spring, including a ninerun outing Tuesday against the Red Sox. He gave up 21 runs in his last three outings.

Glasnow, 23, is one of the team’s top pitching prospects, but he had a hard time adjusting to the majors in his first taste last season, when he was 0-2 with a 4.24 ERA in seven appearances. Williams, 24, was originally seen as something of a long shot for the role.