PITTSBURGH — The Pirates activated relief pitchers Joaquin Benoit and Wade LeBlanc from the disabled list as MLB rosters expanded to 40 men on Friday, but they won’t be joined by anyone else right away.
Those were the Pirates only two moves, instead allowing the rest of the team’s younger players to finish their season with Triple-A Indianapolis before being recalled. The Indians have clinched their division and will play a five-game series with Durham that will run from Sept. 6 to Sept. 10. If they win that series, they will play a five-game finals series.
That could take the Indians all the way to the middle of September, but manager Clint Hurdle isn’t concerned with getting those players to the majors quicker than that.
“I don’t anticipate us making any call-ups at all until the playoff season are over for Altoona and Indy,” Hurdle said. “We, as an organization, believe there’s gainful experience for the guys that are down there. We’ve added two men in the bullpen right now. We’ve got a third one coming back soon.”
The other piece of balancing that Hurdle must do is what to do with the other players that are either not returning or are unlikely to return, like John Jaso. Jaso is in the starting lineup Friday, along with catcher Chris Stewart and all of the rest of the team’s regulars.
Gm 135 #Pirates (63-71) vs.
Hurdle said there’s a level of accountability that he feels to those players, as well.
“We’ve got some guys that have been for periods of time that it might be their last month in a Pirates uniform,” Hurdle said. “There’s lots to be said for the relationship you’ve built over that time. This isn’t about 30 days, more often it’s about what they’ve pushed in and what we’ve worked toward together. You always look to still keep people engaged in the game when it makes sense.”
ON THE RADAR
When the Pirates do make some moves, Hurdle doesn’t expect it to be a large number of players coming up to contribute, but he does have a few that he’s specifically looking forward to getting some major-league experience.
“We’re not talking about that many guys, but to get [Tyler] Glasnow get re-plugged in, yeah, that’s definitely on our radar,” Hurdle said. “To get [Steven] Brault some starts, that’s definitely on our radar, and there’s a couple of other pitchers down there. [Edgar] Santana is a guy we’ve had a couple times that we’d like to look at.”
FALLOUT FROM NICASIO
With Juan Nicasio being waived and claimed by the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, the Pirates have a hole to fill at the back end of the bullpen. Hurdle said that George Kontos will be the primary option for the eighth inning once he returns from the disabled list. Until then, Daniel Hudson and Dovydas Neverauskas will share the role.
It’s been a continual progression from mop-up duty to bigger and bigger roles for Neverauskas, who seemingly has earned the trust of the front office and Hurdle’s staff.
“We like the way the young man, Neverauskas, has pitched,” Hurdle said. “We like the way he’s taken the ball. He’s had a couple hold opportunities, a couple of leverage opportunities and he’s pitched well. Even coming in the other night and facing the one left-hander late, he executed pitches. You saw the velocity, you saw spin.
“Nicasio’s not here, so we have to find some answers going forward. We’d like to have Hudson get a foothold this last month of the season and doing what he’s capable of doing moving into next year.”
BRAULT TO START, NOVA SKIPPED
Ivan Nova will have has next start skipped as the team tries to give the 30-year-old a breather. He’ll cross his career high in innings pitched during his next start. Steven Brault will move from the bullpen to starting in on Tuesday against Chicago.
“We’re just giving him a chance to catch his breath,” Hurdle said. “(One start) is all we’ve talked about as of now.”
Hurdle added that the team currently does not have plans to skip or shut down any other starter. Nova said that the club hasn’t approached him about shutting down for the season.
