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Injury Updates: Chris Stewart Close to a Return, Morton Pitching on Saturday

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It wouldn’t be a surprise to see Chris Stewart back with the Pirates on Friday. Stewart has played two full games the last two days while rehabbing with Indianapolis. The Pirates usually have players play two or three games at nine full innings before they’re ready to return. Clint Hurdle said that the reports are “very positive” on Stewart’s rehab, and that he has experienced no setbacks.

“I spoke with Dean Treanor today at length on Chris,” Hurdle said. “I’ll speak with him tonight after the game or tomorrow morning, because we were going to convene with Chris on a phone conversation, just to see where he is in the off-day tomorrow.”

If Stewart does return on Friday, then the expectation would be that Tony Sanchez will go down. That might have been signaled last night when A.J. Burnett threw to Francisco Cervelli. Prior to that, Burnett had mostly thrown to Sanchez, including many of his Spring Training outings and his B Game appearances at Pirate City (other pitchers usually just threw to Elias Diaz in those games).

Morton Pitching on Saturday

Charlie Morton pitched a side session today, and is going to pitch an extended Spring Training game on Saturday against the Yankees, Clint Hurdle said. The plan is to get him 3-4 innings, with a pitch count of 55.

“Very good bullpen today, Ray reviewed the video,” Hurdle said. “From the times he’s thrown on the side, he like what’s in place and now we’re going to move it forward to get him in a little more competitive situation.”

Going by the normal progression for rehab pitchers, Morton could need 3-4 starts before he’s ready, gradually increasing his inning totals each time out. I wouldn’t expect him back in Pittsburgh before the start of May.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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