There were plenty of storylines regarding the the Pittsburgh Pirates’ on the field performance this week. However, some moves off the field made headlines as well.
For the first time in about two weeks, the Pittsburgh Pirates are coming off a series victory. The Bucs took two of three from the New York Mets at Citi Field this week, coming from behind in game three to win 5-3 and claim their first series win since June 15-17 against the Cincinnati Reds.
The stellar series in New York came at a good time for the Pirates as they were fresh off being swept in four games by the Arizona Diamondbacks at PNC Park.
This past week showcased the Pirates struggles against Arizona and its resiliency against New York. There were plenty of storylines on the field and there were quite a few off the field.
Here are some of the top stories from the week that was in Pirates baseball.
Rodriguez to DL, Anderson to majors
One of the Pirates few roster moves occurred Wednesday as Sean Rodriguez was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right quad strain.
The Pirates called up right-handed reliever Tanner Anderson to take Rodriguez’s place on the roster while transferring A.J. Schugel to the 60-day disabled list.
The DL stint for Rodriguez comes after a seven game stretch where he went 0 for 15. He has just two hits in his last 15 games and is hitting .136 in his last 30.
Anderson has never played in the big leagues but has played for six different minor league squads since 2015.
A 20th round draft pick by the Pirates out of Harvard University in 2015, Anderson is 19-12 with a 3.26 ERA in 105 career appearances and 22 starts in the minor leagues. He is 1-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 24 appearances at Triple-A Indianapolis this season. He compiled 24 strikeouts and six walks in 34.2 innings.
Rodriguez’s trip to the DL came a day after starting pitcher Chad Kuhl left his start against New York with right forearm discomfort. Kuhl has not been placed on the disabled list and it is unclear whether or not he will make his next scheduled start this weekend against San Diego.
Keller, Martin promoted to Indy
One of the biggest moves of the week didn’t even involve the big league club as two of the organization’s top prospects were called up from Double-A Altoona to Indianapolis.
Mitch Keller, the Pirates top overall prospect according to MLBpipeline.com, will head to Indy along with outfielder Jason Martin. One of the pieces acquired in the deal that sent Gerrit Cole to Houston, Martin is ranked as the No. 21 prospect in the Pirates organization.
Both players have had stellar years at Altoona this season. Keller, who is ranked as the 13th best prospect in baseball, was 9-2 with a 2.72 ERA and 1.12 WHIP in 14 starts for the Curve. He compiled 76 strikeouts and 32 walks in 86 innings.
Keller’s call up to Indianapolis came days after throwing eight shutout innings of one-hit baseball against Harrisburg Monday. He struck out six and walked a pair.
Martin has proven to be a key acquisition thus far, hitting .325 with nine home runs and 35 RBIs in 68 games for Altoona this season. Over his last 10 games prior to his call up, Martin hit .323 with a pair of homers and and seven RBIs. In his final game with the Curve, the 22-year-old went 1 for 3 with an RBI and a pair of walks.
Polanco continues hot stretch
In our week in review last week, we highlighted Gregory Polanco and his small sample size of improved play. I mentioned that it might not be a stretch of play that he could maintain, but it was worth noting.
Well, Polanco has maintained his hot streak and has played much better over the past few weeks.
Over his last seven games, the outfielder is hitting .375 with a pair of home runs and four RBIs. Both home runs and all four RBIs were picked up during the series in New York where Polanco went 5 for 10 with three runs scored. He posted multi-hit games in each of the final two contests.
Polanco, who has walked five times and struck out four, is also sporting a .524 on-base percentage over that seven game span.
Going a little bit further, Polanco is hitting .342 over his last 15 games. He has three home runs and has driven in 10 runs while still drawing more walks.
Polanco has been prone to get hot before embarking on a long stretch of struggles and like I said last week, him maintaining this stretch for a long period of time is unlikely. However, his recent improvement shouldn’t go unnoticed.
nova rolling in june
On June 10, Ivan Nova was activated from the 10-day disabled list after suffering a right ring finger sprain.
Prior to his DL stint, Nova hadn’t had a good month of May, going 0-4 with a 7.61 ERA. The veteran right hander allowed four or more runs in four his five starts that month.
But he’s looked like a different pitcher since his brief time away from the mound.
In four starts since coming off the DL, Nova is 2-0 with a 1.75 ERA. He has allowed five runs on 17 hits while striking out 21 and walking six in 25.2 innings.
Two of those outings came within the past seven days. Last Friday, Nova threw eight shutout innings against a potent Arizona lineup and gave up three runs on five hits in six innings Wednesday against the Mets.
Since his return, Nova has done nothing but give the Pirates a chance to win ball games. And you have to give credit where credit is due as that is something he surely wasn’t doing before.
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