Wandy Rodriguez joined the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday and was acquainted with his new team. A strange situation for the left-hander, who was acquired from the Houston Astros on Tuesday in exchange for three prospects, and was officially added to the Pirates roster. Rodriguez arrived to Minute Maid Park just like had for the past seven seasons, but this time he went to a different clubhouse — the visitor’s.
Rodriguez is set to make his Pirates debut on Saturday in Houston against his former club. In with adding Rodriguez to the club’s solid rotation, there comes shuffling.
Correia is the Odd Man Out
Manager Clint Hurdle has decided to remove right-hander Kevin Correia from the rotation and he will pitch in relief out of the bullpen — for now. There have been reports that Pittsburgh is looking to make a trade for Correia. Not since the 2007 season has Correia pitched in relief. He became a starter for the San Diego Padres in 2008 after spending his two previous seasons as a reliever with the San Francisco Giants. Correia will not be available until at least Saturday due to pitching on Wednesday at PNC Park.
Bedard Pushed Back to Monday
Erik Bedard was originally slated to start on Saturday, but will now be pushed back to Monday in Chicago. The move will give the left-hander some extra days off. He recently made some adjustments after the All-Star break, and was dominant his last trip to the mound at PNC Park.
Hurdle also said that he didn’t want to pitch both southpaws — Rodriguez and Bedard — back-to-back in the rotation.
The pitching probables for the weekend will be Jeff Karstens on Friday, Rodriguez on Saturday, James McDonald on Sunday and Bedard on Monday.
With Correia In, Lincoln Late
With Correia being used in long relief from the bullpen, right-hander Brad Lincoln will be used in the later innings. Lincoln has been primarily a starter in his career, but this season with Pittsburgh has been bouncing back-and-forth between starting in relieving. The right-hander has been dominant in relief — just an 0.53 ERA from the bullpen — which is the lowest among relievers. He’s allowed just two earned over 34.0 innings this season.
