Neal Huntington met with reporters before Sunday’s game against the Nationals. Huntington provided injury updates on a number of players.
Josh Harrison
Josh Harrison was seen taking grounders from third base before Sunday’s game. Huntington said that Harrison is making great progress, but there is still a realistic time frame for him to recover.
“The upside of a hand or thumb injury is that you can keep the legs going,” Huntington said. “In Josh’s case, we keep the arm going. He just needs someone to catch for him, so he’s like a quarterback going back into a game. We’ll keep the legs going. We’ll keep the opposite arm going. Josh is making great progress.”
“If I was going to bet on the under on two guys – I’m going to bet on Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison. At the same time, there is a realistic time frame out there, and we are going to do everything in our power to be successful and not put them in harm’s way by rushing them back. We’re not going to hold them back, but we’re also not going to push them forward.”
On Harrison taking grounders, Huntington said that the glove was acting more as a protection mechanism rather than a baseball tool.
“The glove is sort of a protection mechanism. Without a glove, it was a little uncomfortable for him with some risk of him catching the thumb, so the glove was more for protection than anything else. It’s not indicative that he is light-years ahead of schedule. Again, he’s making great progress and he is going to do everything he can to get back here as quickly as possible. We’re still a ways away.”
Casey Sadler
Sadler was put on the disabled list on June 24th (retroactive to 7/22) with a right forearm strain. Huntington said that there seem to be more bad days than good days of late, and Sadler recently went for a second opinion with Dr. James Andrews.
“Casey is scuffling a little bit,” Huntington said. “He’s still trying to work through soreness and discomfort. There are good days and bad days. Unfortunately, there are probably more bad days than good days right now. We’re in the process of getting him a second opinion, and trying to give him, and us, some clarity of what is going on in there and why he continues to have some discomfort.”
Huntington said that the Pirates will provide an update on Sadler’s second opinion when it becomes available.
UPDATE 4:11 PM: The Pirates just released a statement saying that Dr. Andrews confirmed the original diagnosis for Sadler, and completed a PRP injection in his right forearm/elbow. The typical return for this treatment is about 6-8 weeks.
Gorkys Hernandez
Hernandez was put on the disabled list on July 19th (retroactive to 7/13) for left shoulder discomfort. He has player three games for Indianapolis so far, and he looks healthy according to Huntington.
“Our anticipation is that if he continues, we’ll activate him and have to make a decision with him,” said Huntington.
Andrew Lambo
Andrew Lambo was put on the disabled list on May 6th (retroactive to 5/4) for plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He recently had another setback to his recovery.
“He’s had a setback with his plantar fasciitis,” Huntington said. “We’ve had him see a doctor, and he got an injection. The injection leads to about a three-week shutdown, and then we will ramp him back up and try to get him back going again. He was progressing into some baseball activity and progressing well. Then he came in with some similar pain as he had the first time we shut him down.”
The injection was an anti-inflammatory injection.
Rob Scahill
Scahill was placed on the disabled list on June 26th with right forearm pain. They have been working through a throwing progression with Scahill, but he is still far from game action. The Pirates may plan on sending Scahill to Bradenton to allow him to get built back up there. Huntington said that Scahill has been feeling better of late.
Jameson Taillon
Taillon had surgery to repair an inguinal hernia on July 8th, a setback during his recovery from Tommy John surgery. Huntington said that Taillon is still in the resting period, but things are going well in his recovery so far.
