Hole in the lineup

Corey Dickerson’s strained shoulder lands him on the injured list.

The Pirates are down to one healthy starting outfielder.

Corey Dickerson went on the 10-day injured list Thursday because of a strained right shoulder. He joins Gregory Polanco, who is rehabilitating his left shoulder after surgery on his labrum, and Polanco’s replacement, Lonnie Chisenhall, who has a broken finger after he was hit by a pitch. That leaves Starling Marte as the only remaining starter.

“Everybody plans for depth; you find out if you really plan for depth when you have things happen, or how real the depth is,” manager Clint Hurdle said.

Dickerson said the shoulder had bothered him for a couple of weeks.

“It’s a lot of stuff we do, hitting, throwing. Nothing specifically caused it,” he said. “I think it’s just a lot of stuff that we were doing. It’s better to take care of it now, to be able to help the team for as many months as I can at 100 percent, than try to manipulate and let it linger and not help the team as much as I want. I’d rather knock it out right now. We’ve got more off days coming up and just try to get it to 100 percent.”

The Pirates characterized the strain as posterior, meaning the rear of the shoulder. Dickerson said he has never had problems there, though he had dealt with biceps tendinitis in the front of his shoulder. He will not throw for a few days, and he didn’t have an estimate on how much time he would miss.

“They’ll have a better feel for that in the next couple days,” he said.

The Pirates have JB Shuck, Melky Cabrera and Pablo Reyes to fill in at the corners. Cabrera started in right field, Shuck in left Thursday night against the Cincinnati Reds. Kevin Newman has worked in the outfield in recent days and Colin Moran began taking fly balls there Thursday.

For now, the Pirates kept eight relievers. They activated Thursday’s starter, Jordan Lyles, to take Dickerson’s roster spot. The Pirates bullpen has struggled, and each of their previous two games have gone to extra innings.

“There’s one guy [Keone Kela] I know we have to stay away from [Thursday] based on volume of pitches last night, and we just want to make sure we’ve got enough,” Hurdle said. “We’ve got Lyles coming back, so we need to protect the pitching.”

If the Pirates choose to balance the bench and bullpen, they can turn to Jason Martin, MLB.com’s No. 11 prospect in the organization. Martin joined the Pirates in the Gerrit Cole trade and was removed from Class AAA Indianapolis roster Thursday, before the Indians season opener.

Extras at home?

Hurdle said closer Felipe Vazquez was available in a save situation only Wednesday night after throwing a combined 56 pitches Sunday and Monday.

Once extra innings began, which at home means no more save situation, what happens?

“It was off the table,” Hurdle said.

Nick Burdi and Francisco Liriano pitched the 10th inning Wednesday and allowed two runs.