Pittsburgh Pirates welcome return of Taillon, Cervelli, Polanco

The Pittsburgh Pirates welcome reinforcements at a critical time.

Just in time for a homestand, the Pittsburgh Pirates officially welcomed back Jameson Taillon, Francisco Cervelli and Gregory Polanco.

Polanco had not played since July 8, Cervelli since June 10 … They're back

— Travis Sawchik (@Travis_Sawchik) July 19, 2016

At a time when many fans are preoccupied with potential trade acquisitions, these returns could act as acquisitions of sorts in their own right. We can now turn our attention to what these returns might bring to the club.

Polanco

The return of arguably their best player can do wonders for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but it is also fair to wonder if the right-fielder is fully healthy. Having missed 10 calendar days – five total games – with a hamstring injury, one of the young player’s best tools may be limited. Still, his insertion at the second spot in the batting order could do wonders for Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte.

Cervelli

With apologies to Erik Kratz and Eric Fryer, the team was likely longing for Cervelli’s catch framing to return. Both Kratz and Fryer did not factor into saving any runs for the team via their catcher’s gloves. Cervelli had 6.5 runs saved on the season to date, and figures to remain solid in this area for the rest of the season. Cervelli has not played since June 10th, but has looked very good in his rehab assignments.

At the plate, Cervelli was not having the kind of season that woudl come close to replicating his 2015 campaign, but still got on base at a .373 clip. For a Pittsburgh Pirates run creation attack that has lost some of its discipline as of late, his return could cause a course correction back to better habits.

Taillon

Taillon’s return will be the hardest to quantify, perhaps because his trip to the DL was also hard to quantify. Ostensibly sent down for “shoulder fatigue,” it was the worst-kept secret that the club was looking to save innings for the young right-hander.

Taillon stayed with the team, and should slide right back in to the rotation with relative ease. Throwing him today as the club takes on Milwaukee may allow Taillon to build some confidence against a weaker opponent, which would bode well for higher leverage starts in the stretch run.

To make room for these returns, the Pittsburgh Pirates optioned Chad Kuhl back to Indianapolis and deisgnated Kratz for assignment.