PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Roster moves for the Pirates on Tuesday including calling up the potential second baseman of the future.
Outfielder Gregory Polanco (.199, 9 HR, 23 RBI) goes on the 10-day Injured List as does infielder/outfielder Phillip Evans (.208, 5 HR, 15 RBI), on the 7-day list for concussion protocols after an injury during the third inning Monday.
Bucs call up Cole Tucker and AA second baseman Rodolfo Castro. The 22-year-old Castro hitting .306 in 49 games with 11 home runs and 40 RBI.
“He’s had an unbelievable first half,” said Pirates manager Derek Shelton of Castro. “Continues to get better, continues to have good at bats from both sides of the plate. It’s a credit to him.”
“It’s a guy who started in the big leagues with us for a short period of time and gone down and really done a nice job. Very happy with the start he’s off to.”
The roadblock for Castro is that he plays second and third base and the Pirates currently have Adam Frazier and Ke’Bryan Hayes in those positions. Of course there is the possibility Frazier is traded.
Tucker potentially in outfield
The bigger piece of news with the former first round pick Tucker, it’s likely he will get an opportunity in the outfield even though he hasn’t played there this year. Likely John Nogowski and Jared Oliva would get the first opportunities, but Shelton did not rule out Tucker giving them some flexibility.
“He continues to improve,” Shelton said. “The defense has been better. The at bats have been better over the last few days. Definitely encouraging signs. Still things we are working on, but encouraging signs.”
Tucker is 2 for 15 in 8 Major League games this year, but has hits in four straight games at AAA with a pair of doubles and a RBI. Overall Tucker is hitting .214 with AAA Indianapolis.