ST. LOUIS — A day after it looked like his return to the big leagues might be near, Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco hit a snag during his rehab assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis.
Polanco left Sunday’s game after two plate appearances — he was the designated hitter — because he felt some tightness in his left shoulder, manager Clint Hurdle explained Monday before the Pirates opened a three-game series against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
Hurdle said he talked to Polanco earlier in the day, and the first course of action was for Polanco to sit out the Indians’ game Monday night.
“It’s just a down day,” Hurdle said. “He saw a doctor. We’re working through our medical team on the next steps. He’s going to get some treatment and do some strength and conditioning exercises.”
Polanco started this rehab assignment on July 4 and is hitting .240 (6-for-25) in eight games with four extra-base hits, six RBIs and seven walks. There seemed to be an outside chance that Polanco could join the MLB club in St. Louis, although that’s doubtful at this point.
Asked whether this should be interpreted as a shutting down of Polanco’s rehab assignment, Hurdle said simply, “No.”
The injury comes at an inopportune time for the Pirates, who soon will have to figure out what to do at the MLB trade deadline.
If they have five outfielders, they could potentially move one of them for a pitcher. If they have four, chances are they would like to keep that number the same, forcing them to look elsewhere for assets to deal.
Polanco is hitting .242 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 42 games with the big club in 2019. His start to the season was delayed because of offseason surgery to stabilize an acute left shoulder dislocation.
Catching on
Hurdle isn’t completely against personal catchers, but he has something of a rule: There better be a pretty good reason for it.
That criteria has been met when it comes to how Hurdle has used Jacob Stallings and Elias Diaz over the past couple weeks.
Stallings has become the guy for Chris Archer and Joe Musgrove, while Diaz has handled everybody else: Trevor Williams, Dario Agrazal, Steven Brault, Mitch Keller and Jordan Lyles.
“As long as it’s not just about comfort,” Hurdle said. “If there’s a conviction level tied to it and a commitment level tied to it, that’s when I have a buy-in. We’ll see where it goes. I want to do what’s best for the team, but I want them also to tell me their ‘why.’
“Not just because ‘I haven’t pitched well with the other guy or I want to try something new and I’ll put a rabbit’s foot in my pocket.’ Those types of things.”
Archer has seen signs of progress over his past couple of starts and had one of his best as a Pirate last Friday in Chicago. Musgrove is 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his last four starts, the last three of which have been caught by Stallings.
Stallings has also given Hurdle a reason to give his backup more starts with his work at the plate, hitting .524 with a home run and four RBIs since June 18. Diaz is hitting .260 in that span.
Keller honored
The Pirates’ top prospect, Mitch Keller, was named the International League’s Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season.
In the Indians’ second-half opener against Columbus, Keller delivered six shutout innings while allowing just two hits, walking three and striking out eight. It produced his team-high seventh win of the season.
Going into Monday’s games, Keller ranked first in the IL in ERA (3.07), tied for second in wins, third in strikeouts (96), third in WHIP (1.28) and fourth in batting average against (.243).
Keller has started three games with the Pirates this season, going 0-1 with a 10.50 and 15 strikeouts in 12 innings.
DSL update
Three players represented the Pirates at Sunday’s Dominican Summer League All-Star Game: outfielders Fleury Nova and Randy Romero and pitcher Sergio Umana. Pittsburgh’s DSL 2 entry has a league-best 30-6 record in the 45-team league, while the DSL 1 squad has gone 18-18.
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and @JMackeyPG.
First Published: July 16, 2019, 12:15 a.m.
