With the injury to Kevin Newman on Thursday night, that has opened up a spot at shortstop for the Bradenton Marauders and the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to promote Cole Tucker to take that role. The first round pick from 2014 will take over the spot of the first round pick from 2015, who will likely miss an extended amount of time with a fractured left orbital.
The original plan was to eventually get Tucker to Bradenton this season, though that would have likely coincided with a promotion to Altoona for Newman. It also would have allowed Tucker more time at the lower level in his own return from an injury. Tucker had labrum surgery last August and the original return was supposed to be late June, but he beat that by nearly two months. Since returning, Tucker has hit .262/.308/.443 in 15 games and his fielding, specifically his throwing, looks the same as last year, so there doesn’t seem to be any effects from the shoulder surgery.
