The Pirates announced they have placed first-baseman/designated hitter Ji-Man Choi on the 10-day injured list retroactive to yesterday with a strained left achilles. Infielder Tucupita Marcano has been recalled from Triple-A.
Choi, 31, was off to a slow start with the Pirates, hitting just .125/.125/.344 with a pair of home runs through his first 32 plate appearances of the year. He was scratched from yesterday’s match with the Cardinals and evidently the Pirates have determined his injury bad enough that it’ll require a stint on the IL. It remains unclear how severe the strain is, and so it’s unknown if Choi is expected to return after the mandatory time away or the achilles might take a little longer to heal.
It’ll give the Pirates another chance to take a look at Marcano. The 23-year-old was acquired from the Padres in the Adam Frazier deal last year and hit .206/.256/.306 in 177 plate appearances for the Bucs last year. He’s fared much better in Triple-A, slashing a solid .291/.388/.443 last season and tearing the cover off the ball to start 2023, hitting .422/.458/.689 over 48 plate appearances. To date that level of hitting hasn’t translated to the big leagues, but it’s clear Marcano is deserving of another look in the big leagues.
Choi’s absence will mean Carlos Santana gets the bulk of the reps at first base, with the team likely to cycle players through the DH spot. Marcano bounced around the diamond last season, but spent most of his time at second and in left field.
Tuca is the youngest player on their aaa team
they have some nice bats, need more pitching tho..
trade for Sixto and draft Dollander
then we’re cookin
Yeah, that DH position is rough
you mean swinging and missing thrown pitches is hazardous to your elbow
It’s just way too early to completely write off Choi IMO. And in any case, they invested a bit in him so he’s going to get chances whether or not we like it.
You’re right, of course. It’s really too early to give up on anyone
Marciano has been slaying it at AAA.
Helluva boxer. Now if he can only hit the ball at this level. (Sorry. Had to do it)
I guess spellcheck doesn’t have respect for the one without the “i” in the name.
He certainly didn’t slay it today
Neither did Mathias who doesn’t belong in the majors
For those who defend Marcano and his sizzling offense at Indy he didn’t face pitching that throws 100 mph fastballs or 90 mph sliders
hopefully he and castro can hold down MF positions.
Language!
I have a question, why doesn’t Bae bunt more often. With his speed, he should be trying to move runners into scoring position while trying to beat out the bunt for a hit
If only he hadn’t gone to the WB-
Oh wait.
Marcano has such a sweet looking swing. He and Bae have me excited, they’re both very interesting middle infield possibilities.
I’m glad Marcano has overcome his kleptomaniacal problems ever since that incident at the bread emporium where he took a pita.
(Ba-dum-tssss)
Does he still qualify as a breadwinner?
Yes!! That’s the yeast he can do.
It’d be crumby otherwise. I knead to find a new way to scout these guys, don’t ask me rye.
Now you’re getting a tad carraway with this.
I’m leaven this place!
You know, they have some feisty players and although 75 wins may be stretching it, I’ll give them this much: they hang in there
Contreras said in today’s interview that with Cutch and Santana, it’s so much different this year both on the field and in the clubhouse. In itself, that’s a positive sign
I liked their starters before Brubaker went down and hope as some have said that Hill and VV will be ok
They still have some big question marks and still do some bazaar stuff but again, @MonkeysUncle is right. It’s too early to make pronouncements. Much easier to watch this year so far
Will someone pass the bread?
You are right corn. This is watchable. First time we’ve seen that in years. Everyone they got rid of is in Asia or in AAA. That wasn’t even Major League Baseball we got in the Shelty era.
Fun fact: Tucupita Marcano was born in Tucupita, Venezuela.
Kind of like Vito Corleone was born in Corleone, Italy?
except that Vito’s real last name was Andolinni and it was the man at the immigration center in NYC that misunderstood the young lad and gave him the last name he’d use for the rest of his life
Yep, you’re a fan, too, and I liked how Don Vito made his real name clear to Don Ciccio upon his return to ostensibly get his blessing for his new olive oil venture
Now if Tucupita can somehow do the same thing to a baseball….
Godfather II is my favorite of the trilogy, as it explains in detail of Vito’s tragic childhood and how that transformed him into the boss of one of New York’s 5 crime families
But you’re absolutely correct, corn, when Vito whispers into Don Chi cop’s ear, his last name then pushes a knife deep into his belly, it was classic payback
Good thing Larry Bird didn’t adopt this cognomic tradition.
To anyone who watched the Pirates snatch defeat from the jaws of victory today, it was a classic example of how a manager loses a game.
I stand by the previous statement; they’re a different team this year. But they’re going to have to overcome managerial stupidity sometimes
Sheesh
Shelton is a horrible manager as I’ve said numerous times before.
What is the problem with leaving a reliever in for multiple innings, or not using the closer in a non save situation?
They don’t bunt nearly enough, despite having several speedy players.
His lineups continue to perplex me. Castro, who’s had at least one hit in every game since taking over for Cruz, has no business batting 7th.
These are the just a few of my beefs with Shelton
Right. He won’t bunt guys into scoring position. He’ll bat lefties against left handed pitchers who are there for those very situations. He’ll pitch to the opponents big guns with first base open and runners in scoring position in a tie or one run lead game.
And the line up and pitching strategies?
Mystifying
I understand the rule changes for relievers. I know that this new era means relying on stats
But it’s not a hard game at its root
Yesterday was really a sickening example of a modern managers with no feel for the game
Again we are in agreement
Bae, the fastest player on the team should be batting 2nd against righties and be bunting if Hayes gets on base either to sacrifice him over or to beat the throw to first.
Or bat Bae first and use his speed to bunt for a hit
Shelton’s predictable, opposing players and their managers field our hitters to their advantage
Rarely do I see our batters looking to hit the ball the other way.
Castro did it yesterday and got a hit but most of the younger players always try to pull the ball and more often than, make an out
And the hitting coach is still worthless in my book
Crowe was awful last year when he pitched in the ninth inning and Shelton still has not learned.He had Stephenson,Ramirez,and Hernandez who could have pitched,and he needs to know what they bring to the table in clutch situations.It was the perfect situation to do so.
He should have known what was going to happen bringing Crowe in.
There may a couple of lefthanders in Indianapolis who could do a better job at this point.
And to think that they traded their starting first baseman and got basically just him back.