More surgery for Soriano
WASHINGTON — When the Pirates selected Jose Soriano No. 1 overall in the 2020 Rule 5 draft, the hardthrowing right-hander felt almost like a time capsule. There was no reason to doubt Soriano’s ability, but he was also coming off Tommy John surgery and wouldn’t be ready for game action until some point during the 2021 season.
Two outings and 11 outs later, the Pirates are back in time-capsule territory with Soriano, their 23rd-ranked prospect by MLB Pipeline. Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday before a game against Washington at Nationals Park that Soriano had Tommy John revision surgery on Tuesday and would miss a minimum of 16 months.
Dr. Neal ElAttrache, the doctor who fixed Ben Roethlisberger’s elbow, performed the surgery in Los Angeles.
“Last night when he woke up from the surgery was Day 1 of the recovery, and we’re here to support Jose on that journey,” Tomczyk said. “As I mentioned last week, there are successes from these revision surgeries, and we’re going to work hard and do everything in our power to provide a platform and the opportunity for Jose to come back from this.”
The Pirates drafted the 22year-old Soriano from the Angels, emphasizing how much they liked his 70-grade (20-to-80 scale) fastball and how they believed he could quickly refine his 12-to-6 curveball. He and Luis Oviedo were viewed as pitching prospects the Pirates were able to poach.
Brault progressing
It looks like Steven Brault could be back by late July, Tomczyk said. Or that’s the hope anyway.
Brault, who has been out since spring training with a left lat strain, has been ramping up his throwing and was scheduled to throw a 30-pitch side session on Thursday, using all of his pitches.
“Once we see how the body responds to that, he’ll probably throw another side or two then progress into live batting practice from there, then into simulated games,” Tomczyk said. “He is making strides in his rehab down in Bradenton.”
As for other major league updates …
• Oviedo (left quad strain) has restarted throwing, both off flat ground and the mound, Tomczyk said.
• Trevor Cahill re-aggravated his left calf injury during the Brewers series and returned to Pittsburgh to be evaluated by team doctors.
• Colin Moran (lower-back tightness) was out of the lineupfor a third consecutive game. He left Sunday’s game early with back spasms.
Bae out 4-6 weeks
Class AA Altoona infielder Ji-Hwan Bae will miss 4-6 weeks with a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his left knee, Tomczyk said. Bae collided with outfielder Cal Mitchell during a game on June 8.
Tomczyk described the injury as a ligament sprain and “nothing surgical.” The Pirates are optimistic Bae, their 13th-ranked prospect, will be able to return this season.
Also in the minors, Tomczyk said High- A Greensboro second baseman Nick Gonzales (right pinky) would be back by the end of June.
Gonzales was diagnosed with a fracture to the volar plate — a ligament joining two bones in the finger — on May 21 and was expected to miss 4-6 weeks.