PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Right-hander Kevin Correia was scratched from his scheduled start tonight against the Colorado Rockies in Pittsburgh due to discomfort in his left side. Instead, the club reinstated A.J. Burnett from the disabled list, and he will make his 2012 debut.
Correia said he felt a little sore a few days ago on his left side. The club wanted to be extra cautious with the injury. Correia ended the 2011 season on the 60-day DL due to a left strained oblique.
“He threw through Arizona,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said on when Correia first felt sore. “We had him up in the bullpen on Tuesday. He was telling everyone how great he felt Wednesday. Then I think Thursday he felt a little something. Then Friday he wanted to get on the mound and test it a little bit. It didn’t feel right. Just above. Same side. Around the general area.”
MRI results came back clean for Correia and he did throw a bullpen without issue, saying today that he felt good.
“I was kind of just sore a couple days ago,” Correia said. “I threw, and it was just a little cranky, so we just played it safe…It felt real similar as what I did last year. The MRI was clean, so that’s all I wanted to know. I just didn’t want to go out there and aggravate it. I feel confident going out there and throwing now.”
“We’re not sure how he got hurt,” Hurdle said. “He’s not sure how he got hurt. He complained of some stiffness, soreness. With his injury history from last year with the oblique, we wanted to get it checked out. We had a MRI done today, which came back clean. We just had him go out, get activated, play long toss, then go in the bullpen. He threw inside today. He’s functional and good to go.”
“That being said, where we stood yesterday and through last night, you don’t know if he go out there and start a game, give you an inning. We feel much more confident now.”
Hurdle said the club will continue to monitor how Correia feels and will determine whether he, or right-hander Brad Lincoln, will get the start on Monday against Colorado.
“He’ll have tomorrow off,” Hurdle said. “He’s able to go now. If he feels good tomorrow, we will see if he fits in or Lincoln on Monday.”
“I think that’s the plan as of right now,” Correia said. “We’re going to see how I feel tomorrow. Play catch and stuff. I don’t think there’s a definite plan right now.”
With the off day on Thursday, Hurdle said he may use that day to reshuffle the rotation with what he sees fit.
“Especially after what we do on Monday, because Monday’s up in the air now,” Hurdle said. “Whether there is reshuffling or not, you’re going to kind of want to try and keep guys on five days. We’ll definitely re-evaluate. I think that if everybody can go in line now, we’ll pretty much be where we need to be all depending on what we do Monday. I think if we have the option to use Correia or Lincoln as the starter, you’re going to go with Correia.”
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Right-hander Joel Hanrahan, who has been sidelined since Sunday with a hamstring injury, is available tonight from the Pirates bullpen.
“We hope to use him. He’s available,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’ve done all the testing that we can in the environment that we have. Add some adrenaline in a closing situation potentially, and we’ll see where that takes us.”
The Pirates closer sustained the injury on the last pitch during the save situation in San Francisco on Sunday. He participated in PFP’s and running drills on the field over the past several days in order to test his hamstring.
“I’ve been working on basically every day since it happened,” Hanrahan said. “I’ve just been kind of going through all the training room stuff. The trainers have been good with giving me their time. I felt good yesterday, but today I feel even better. I feel a little more confident than I did yesterday. It’s just one of those things where it’s gotten better everyday.”
“We’re just doing strengthening stuff. Really now, it’s just the mental part. Knowing that I can go out there and compete. When you get the adrenaline going in the game that it’s not going to mess up again. That’s the hardest part, overcoming the mental. That’s with any injury. That’s the last thing to come, the mental part of it. I feel good and confident about it.”
