Pirates injury updates, Cherington on Ozuna’s future

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Of the updates from general manager Ben Cherington during the Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan on Sunday, Brandon Lowe has no breaks after fouling a ball off his leg. The latest on Lowe, several others dealing with injuries including Konnor Griffin and thoughts on Marcell Ozuna.

Let’s get to that other star still on the active roster who is injured, Oneil Cruz. He cut his hand sliding into home on Saturday and was out of the lineup on Sunday. Cruz is considered day-to-day and not likely to land on the injured list.

Lowe ow

Cherington said the Pirates leading home-run hitter is day-to-day with no fracture to his leg and they hope to have him back for the Dodgers series at some point which starts on Tuesday night at home.

Griffin update

Pirates sent the 20-year-old to one of the leading arm/elbow specialists in the country, orthopedic surgeon Dr. Keith Meister. They took his assessment together with their own doctors and determined it’s a flexor mass muscle strain.

That means no surgery, but also means they are going to be more conservative with his return. Cherington said that means he doesn’t have a timeline as to when Griffin will play again. He said it means he’s adding days to the original thought, but most importantly Griffin is almost completely asymptomatic.

Griffin is taking ground balls and running, but hasn’t started throwing yet.

“Still believe he’s going to be a part of the lineup for the biggest chunk of the season,” Cherington told Jason Mackey on the Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan.

Bart working back

Barring something unforeseen, Cherington said Bart will start a rehab assignment this week. Bart had to shutdown entirely so he has work to do to get back. It’s not going to be as fast as others, they want him ‘to play a little bit’ before joining the MLB roster.

Roster move

Pirates sent outfielder Jhostynxon Garcia (.200, .472 OPS, 2 RBI) to AAA and called up infielder Davis Wendzel. The 29-year-old has 14 doubles, nine home runs, .246 average and .852 OPS with AAA Indianapolis this year.

“With Lowe not on the IL, but banged up and not available Sunday, we wanted to protect that infield a little bit,” Cherington said on The Pirates Insider Show on 93.7 The Fan. “We are also looking for options against left-handed pitching. Davis has been one of our more consistent performers in AAA all year, he’s an experienced guy, good baseball player.”

“We think Password can make a contribution this year and it’s been harder to get him in the lineup, understandably, Donny has a lot of options. He’s a really young, talented young player. He’s had a little bit of a choppy start through the 2026 season with IL and things like that. We feel like we needed to get him playing every day.”

Ozuna question

Cherington asked about the struggles and lack of opportunities for veteran designated hitter Marcell Ozuna (.197, .590 OPS, five doubles, five home runs).

“Certainly plenty of runway in terms of being on the team,” Cherington told Jason Mackey on the Pirates Insider Show. “He’s a big part of the team. We keep working with him. He’s made a really good contribution off the field. He hasn’t gotten quite going on the field yet. I think the biggest challenge in the short term is the lineup with the roster construction we have right now, there is obviously a lot of days where Donny has a reason to put someone else at DH. Whether it’s a particular matchup or whether it’s someone who might need a day off their feet. We would probably expect some more in the short term.”

“We are going to give it time because we see that hot streak for him. We want to be the beneficiaries of that, when that happens and are confident that will happen.”