Williams is placed on 10-day IL
SAN DIEGO — Friday was an active day for the Pirates when it came to roster moves.
Trevor Williams was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strain in his right side, the team announced. Williams left the 4-3 loss against the San Diego Padres Thursday night after pitching 3⅔ innings. Williams motioned to the dugout after recording his fifth strikeout of the game and was removed shortly thereafter.
Clay Holmes was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis to replace Williams on the active roster. This is the second call-up for Holmes this season.
Richard Rodriguez gave up his eighth home run of the season Thursday to Ian Kinsler, which provided the winning margin for the Padres. It’ll be the last he’ll surrender for the big-league club — at least for a while — as he was optioned to Class AAA Indianapolis.
The Pirates replaced Rodriguez by promoting Geoff Hartlieb from Indianapolis. Whenever Hartlieb pitches, it will be his major league debut.
Hartlieb, 25, was 1-0 with one save, a 3.32 ERA and 23 strikeouts in 12 relief appearances with Indianapolis. He has a 15-9 record with 21 saves, a 3.01 ERA (167⅓ innings pitched/56 earned runs) and 169 strikeouts in 114 relief appearances in his minor league career.
Jacob Stallings cleared waivers, and the Pirates assigned him to Indianapolis. Stallings could have a tough time making it back to Pittsburgh as long as Francisco Cervelli and Elias Diaz remain healthy. He does, however, provide roster depth at a key position.
Now that we have the roster moves accounted for let’s get into what they mean.
Here are seven things you need to know about the Pirates after an active Friday.
• Williams will not throw for approximately 10 days, according to director of sports medicine, Todd Tomcyzk. The Pirates don’t expect the injury to require surgery. Tomcyzk reiterated that Williams would pitch again this year. The team’s medical staff will re-evaluate Williams’ condition in 10 days.
“I like our chances with Trevor,” Tomcyzk said. “Trevor takes care of his body. He knows how to do it. I know that he will be dedicated in his rehab process as most of our players are. He’s going to work to get back as quickly as this injury will allow.”
• Williams is the 20th Pirate to spend time on the IL. The Pirates haven’t had 20 players reach the IL in one season since 2013. The Pirates have played 41 games.
• The Pirates starting rotation opened the season as the team’s major strength. Now, Jameson Taillon can’t return from the IL until July 1. Williams is out for at least 10 days, which is the equivalent of two starts.
“He was our best volume starter when it comes to pitching innings,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “The conviction to pitch that he brings every time he’s out there is a contagion that helps everybody.
“That’s gone. It’s been taken away [for] a while.”
• Holmes will pitch out of the bullpen. Hurdle said he is considering putting Nick Kingham back in the rotation. Kingham returned to the bullpen after Chris Archer came off the IL. Kingham gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits in his start Monday against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
• Kingham would be right on schedule to pitch Saturday if the Pirates decided to call his number. Or the team could go with Steven Brault, who gave up six earned runs in his outing Sunday.
• The Pirates still believe that there is a place for Rodriguez.
“We need him in the bullpen. We saw the value that he could bring last year,” Hurdle said. “He was understanding of the reason why. He’s made a lot of improvement in the last 18 months. Now the next step is for him to go down and recalibrate so that he can make his way back up here to help the team.”
• Rodriguez will report to Indianapolis Tuesday. He will have scheduled innings and situations to pitch in. Hurdle believes this will take some pressure off and allow Rodriguez to work on execution and control.