Edgar Santana

The Pirates have optioned starter Tyler Glasnow and reliever Dovydas Neverauskas to Triple-A Indianapolis, MLB.com’s Adam Berry tweets. The idea, as Stephen J. Nesbitt of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets, is that Jameson Taillon will return and start on Monday, with Chad Kuhl pitching in Glasnow’s rotation spot on Wednesday. There’s no official word on who will Glasnow and Neverauskas on the roster in the short term, although the agent for righty reliever Edgar Santana recently tweeted congratulations to his client for making it to the big leagues for the first time.

Of these moves, the most newsworthy is Taillon’s quick return. Taillon had surgery for testicular cancer in early May and returned almost immediately, hopping back into baseball activities and then making three rehab starts in the high minors during which he showed little rust. That he will have been able to rejoin the Pirates’ rotation so quickly is heartwarming news after his shocking cancer diagnosis. Before his surgery, he had a 3.31 ERA, 7.6 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 over 31 1/3 innings this season.

Glasnow, who once joined Taillon atop lists of the Pirates’ best pitching prospects, has struggled greatly this season, posting a 7.45 ERA, 8.3 K/9 and 4.8 BB/9 over 54 1/3 innings. The 23-year-old has size and elite stuff, with a mid-90s fastball and an excellent curveball, but he has made little evident progress in the development of his control.