SAN DIEGO — The Pirates promoted Class AAA Indianapolis outfielder Jordan Luplow before Friday's game against the San Diego Padres and optioned lefty Steven Brault to Indianapolis.
The Pirates drafted Luplow, 23, in the third round in 2014. He hit 16 home runs with Class AA Altoona this season to go with a .287 average and a .368 on-base percentage. In his first 20 games after a promotion to Indianapolis he hit five more home runs with a .338/.415/.592 slash line.
“I was trying to grow as a player,” Luplow said. “As a hitter, just learning approaches and learning from some of the guys that had been at the upper levels, picking guys' brain.”
Luplow was born in Visalia, Calif., and went to Fresno State, so several relatives — his mom, Rebecca, and dad, Mark, along with aunts, uncles and friends, are heading south for his debut. He played with Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge, and the two stay in touch throughout the season.
“It was not fun being in his batting practice group,” Luplow said. “I'm sure that helped me out in the long run, with scouts and stuff, but it wasn't fun following him up.”
Luplow was scheduled to start in right field and bat seventh Friday night. He found out he was coming to the majors while with his grandparents in Indianapolis, when manager Andy Barkett called him.
“What are you doing?” Barkett asked.
“I just got done with dinner with the grandparents.”
“How long are they here?”
“Til Tuesday.”
At this Barkett feigned a sharp intake of breath. “Ooh. ... They might need to grab a plane to San Diego because they’re going up to the show.”
“I just lost it,” Luplow said. “I thought I was getting traded or something like that. It was crazy.”
The Pirates promoted Brault on Saturday when Gregory Polanco went on the disabled list to increase pitching depth for the series in Coors Field. Brault appeared in two games, allowing two runs in an inning Saturday and pitching three scoreless innings Tuesday.
Bill Brink: bbrink@post-gazette.com
First Published: July 28, 2017, 9:49 p.m.
Updated: July 28, 2017, 11:19 p.m.