PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – He was projected as the Pirates starting left or rightfielder, Greg Allen continues to make progress after a late Spring Training hamstring injury.
Allen tweaked the hamstring with just a couple of exhibition games to go on April 3 and placed on the 60-day DL a few days later. Allen claimed off waivers from the Yankees in November after he was on their AL Wild Card roster. He's played in 236 career MLB games with a .241 average, .307 on-base, eight home runs, seven triples and 35 stolen bases.
The speedy switch hitter hit .294 with a pair of home runs, a triple and four RBI with seven runs and four stolen bases in Grapefruit League this Spring.
Another potential addition to the outfield is last year's Opening Day starter in center. Anthony Alford has resumed all baseball hitting activities with minimal to no symptoms from a sprained right wrist in late March. The 29-year-old played in 49 games in 2021 hitting .233 with five home runs and a .311 on-base percentage.
Other injury updates
RHP-Blake Cederlind
He continues a throwing program while recovering from Tommy John surgery in March 2021. Pirates Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk says they are looking to potentially start throwing live BP by the weekend. He calls it good progress as they will then move into side sessions and rehab games.
LHP-Sam Howard
The reliever threw live batting practice this week and 'felt good and normal'. The next step is game competition as they reassess him in Florida. He's on the 10-day injured list with a mid-back strain.
RHP-Luis Oviedo
Last year's Rule 5 selection is recovering from a right ankle sprain. Oviedo already threw one, two-inning rehab assignment with the Low A Bradenton Marauders earlier this week. He is expected to make another appearance on Thursday and they will evaluate.
RHP-Dwayne Underwood
The reliever is throwing as he recovers from a hamstring injury and will start throwing off the mound soon. He is currently on the 10-day injured list.
RHP-Quinn Priester
The Pirates first round pick in 2019 suffered an oblique injury in early April. Typical recovery time to getting into a game is 28-35 days and he is playing light catch. In his second professional season, the righty was 7-4 with a 3.04 ERA in 32.2 innings with 10 walks and 37 strikeouts.
Is the shortened Spring Training due to the lock-out attributing to a longer list of injuries?
"I don't want to say it's a longer list," Tomczyk said. "That is to be determined. I think we are seeing some trends that may suggest that. We won't be able to know that probably until June or July once we are able to understand it and gather the data from an organization and industry perspective."
"The trends are creeping that way."
