The Pittsburgh Pirates have placed Jason Grilli and Russell Martin on the disabled list, and have recalled Tony Sanchez and Jared Hughes. The team attempted to place Grilli on the DL yesterday, and recall Hughes. Normally, Hughes would have been eligible to be recalled within ten days to replace an injured player. However, because Grilli’s time on the DL was backdated to April 21st, and because Hughes was on the Pirates’ roster at that time, the move was deemed ineligible.
To correct the move, the Pirates placed Grilli on the DL and recalled Tony Sanchez, with Grilli still backdated to April 21st. Then they placed Russell Martin on the 15-day DL with a strained left hamstring, and recalled Hughes.
I’d expect Tony Sanchez to get the bulk of the playing time behind the plate with Martin out, with Chris Stewart still serving as the backup catcher.
Tim started Pirates Prospects in 2009 from his home in Virginia, which was 40 minutes from where Pedro Alvarez made his pro debut in Lynchburg. That year, the Lynchburg Hillcats won the Carolina League championship, and Pirates Prospects was born from Tim's reporting along the way. The site has grown over the years to include many more writers, and Tim has gone on to become a credentialed MLB reporter, producing Pirates Prospects each year, and will publish his 11th Prospect Guide this offseason. He has also served as the Pittsburgh Pirates correspondent for Baseball America since 2019. Behind the scenes, Tim is an avid music lover, and most of the money he gets paid to run this site goes to vinyl records.
Might as well have Martin serve his suspension when he gets healthy again, too.
Like rats jumping off a sinking pirate ship, I sure hope the bilge pumps kick in soon. I mean just making contact with runners in scoring position would be a big step in the right direction. I don’t know about you folks but I think if a whole team hits this bad for a long period of time,it’s time to look at the hitting coaches,with firings not to far away.
I agree. It’s too early to assign blame to specific coaches, but the offense so far certainly doesn’t speak well for Jeff Branson.
Hmmmm…
I guess you can blame Branson for this year – and Bell for last year – but what was Mr. Hurdle supposed to be great at?
He would deserve blame as well if the offense continues to struggle.
In the long run Sanchez getting more time behind the plate and more AB’s can be nothing but good for next year and beyond when Martin is gone. Sanchez is likely the guy until when/if McGuire is ready for the jump (Almost hurts me to speculate so far out)
This really hurts losing Martin. While better then the Fort at throwing out runners, Sanchez is no Martin. This is getting to be a long year already and we haven’t even gotten out of April!