The Pittsburgh Pirates have recalled outfielder Starling Marte and have placed Pedro Alvarez on the bereavement list, according to a team press release. Last night, Ryan Palencer wrote about how Marte wasn’t experiencing any setbacks in his rehab. He played center field yesterday for Indianapolis, and is expected to take over in center field for Pittsburgh with Andrew McCutchen expected to go on the disabled list. No word yet on McCutchen’s status. Dejan Kovacevic is reporting that the injury is not an oblique injury, which is different than what we’ve previously heard.
Pedro Alvarez going to the bereavement list should mean that Travis Snider will get the bulk of McCutchen’s playing time while he is out. I wrote about McCutchen’s potential replacements last night, noting that Snider’s recent success made him the best option, with the best backup plan being Alvarez returning to third base and Josh Harrison going to the outfield.