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Cardinals-Pirates Series Postponed; Cardinals Expect Additional COVID-19 Positive

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August 9: This week’s series between the Cardinals and Pirates has been postponed in its entirety, as first reported by Jon Heyman of MLB Network. As a result, the Cardinals have had 15 consecutive postponements and will have just 46 days to make up 55 games if they are to play the entire 2020 schedule. In addition, Heyman reports that the Cardinals are expected to reveal “at least one” additional positive COVID-19 test after yesterday’s round of testing.

MLB officially announced the cancellation with a press release that reads: “Major League Baseball announced today that the upcoming three-game series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates, scheduled for Monday through Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, has been postponed.  In light of the most recent positive test results, MLB and the Club believe it is prudent to conduct additional testing while players and staff are quarantined before the team returns to play.  More information regarding the Cardinals’ resumption of play will be announced later in the week.”

August 8, 9:57 PM: It’s been confirmed by Jeff Passan and Jason Mackey (via Twitter). The Cardinals and Pirates’ Monday meeting has been postponed.

6:17 PM: The St. Louis Cardinals have been told that they won’t be coming together again as a team for at least 3-5 days, per The Athletic’s Mark Saxon (via Twitter). Obviously, the implication here is that their upcoming series with the Pittsburgh Pirates will be canceled. Major League Baseball has not made an official announcement as of yet.

Cardinals players will continue with personal workouts for the time being – they haven’t seen game action in over a week. The Cardinals last saw the diamond on Wednesday, July 29th in a 3-0 loss to the Twins. They are likely to go more than two weeks before returning to the field. While most of the rest of the league is pushing towards (or already past) the quarter mark for the season, the Cardinals are stuck on a 2-3 record after dealing with the second major clubhouse outbreak of coronavirus since the game’s reboot. It remains unclear how/when/if the Cardinals will be able to make up the missed games.

Obviously, containing the virus is priority A through Z right now for the Cardinals, who released the names of 8 players who have tested positive for COVID-19. They have the benefit of the Marlins’ experience from earlier this season, but there’s no tried-and-true approach to handling an internal outbreak of this scale. There are, of course, protocols in place, but the nature of COVID-19 leaves a great deal of general uncertainty.

The Pirates will get a couple of days off after facing a scare of a different sort in their game with the Tigers today. Phillip Evans and Gregory Polanco collided on a pop fly in four territory resulting in Evans leaving the game on a stretcher, per Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It was described as a scary scene, and we will update you on Evans’ condition with a full post as more information about his current status is revealed. Polanco stayed in the game.

As of right now, it does appear that the Pirates (and Cardinals) will have the next couple of days off. The Pirates were scheduled to be in St. Louis on Monday night to begin a three-game series.

Braves Add Robbie Erlin To Active Roster

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TODAY: The Braves announced that Erlin has been activated onto the big league roster.  Sobotka had been optioned to the minor league site but is now quickly back with the club to serve as the extra player for today’s doubleheader.

AUGUST 7: The Braves announced that they have claimed left-hander Robbie Erlin off waivers from the Pirates. In other moves, the Braves placed right-hander Chris Martin on the 10-day injured list with an esophageal constriction and recalled RHP Chad Sobotka.

The 29-year-old Erlin had been in limbo since Pittsburgh designated him Aug. 2. He threw 3 1/3 innings of two-run ball for the club before it bounced him.  Erlin was a quality prospect with the Padres during his younger days, but he has only managed a 4.58 ERA across 108 appearances (38 starts) and 316 1/3 innings since he debuted in 2013. To Erlin’s credit, though, he has logged a very solid 3.57 FIP with 7.2 K/9 and 1.79 BB/9 as a major leaguer.

Erlin could step into the Braves’ bullpen, which will suddenly go without one of its most prominent options in Martin, whom the team re-signed to a two-year, $14MM contract in free agency. Martin, 34, threw four innings and allowed one earned runs on two hits and one walk (three strikeouts) before his IL placement.

Pirates Place Phillip Evans On 45-Day IL; Promote Jose Osuna, Brandon Waddell

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10:09AM: The Pirates have officially placed Evans on the 45-day injured list.  The Bucs also announced the Mears option, the Osuna call-up, and the selection of Waddell’s contract.

8:55AM: Evans will likely miss the rest of the season after suffering a broken jaw and a concussion, Mackey reports.

8:33AM: The Pirates will be calling up infielder/outfielder Jose Osuna and left-hander Brandon Waddell from their alternate training site, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports (Twitter links).  Righty Nick Mears will be one of the players being sent to make room on the active roster, a day after Mears tossed an inning of relief to mark his Major League debut.

While no formal announcement has yet been made by the Pirates, Phillip Evans is surely headed to the injured list in the wake of yesterday’s brutal collision with teammate Gregory Polanco.  Evans and Polanco were both chasing for a fly ball in foul ground during the sixth inning of Pittsburgh’s 11-5 loss to the Tigers, and ran into each other at full speed with Evans’ head taking the full brunt of Polanco’s elbow and forearm.  Evans appeared to be conscious, though he was taken off the field in a stretcher and taken to hospital for evaluation.

Osuna is back on the Bucs’ roster for the second time this season, having already appeared in six games for the club before being optioned to the alternate camp on Thursday.  Experienced at both corner infield and outfield positions, Osuna has shown flashes of promise over his 256 MLB games, and generated some roughly league-average offense (99 OPS+, 97 wRC+) with his .264/.310/.456 slash line and 10 home runs over 285 PA in 2019.

Waddell was only added to the Pirates’ 60-man player pool on Friday, and another transaction will be forthcoming in order for the Bucs to make room for him on their 40-man roster.  The southpaw is set to make his Major League debut a little over five years after being selected out of the University of Virginia with a fifth-round pick in the 2015 draft.  Waddell has a 4.12 ERA, 2.07 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 478 innings in Pittsburgh’s farm system, starting 85 of his 115 games.  It’s possible Waddell could just be getting a cup of coffee on the roster (like Mears) as the Pirates continue to cycle through pitchers, though the Bucs’ almost team-wide pitching struggles could provide opportunity for Waddell to gain a foothold in the big leagues.

Pirates Select Yacksel Rios

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The Pirates have selected the contract of righty Yacksel Rios. Fellow right-hander Michael Feliz was moved to the 45-man injured list.

Rios was outrighted off of the 40-man roster in late June. The 27-year-old will now get another shot. He owns a 6.20 ERA through 65 1/3 total MLB frames over the past three seasons.

It’s obviously somewhat ominous news to see Feliz move right onto the lengthier injury list. He came down with forearm issues yesterday. Clearly, the team anticipates a rather lengthy absence for the 27-year-old.

Pirates Acquire Tyler Bashlor From Mets

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The Pirates have acquired right-handed pitcher Tyler Bashlor from the Mets in exchange for cash considerations, reports Tim Healey of Newsday. The Pirates have designated LHP Robbie Erlin for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster.

Bashlor, 27, tossed 54 relief innings for the Mets between 2018-19. They were generally uninspiring, as he managed just a 5.33 ERA/6.18 FIP in that span. However, Bashlor averaged a strong 95.6 MPH on his four-seam fastball last season with top-of-the-scale spin. The Bucs will take a low-cost flier to see if they can translate those promising traits into a few more whiffs.

Erlin, meanwhile, managed only two relief appearances in Pittsburgh after breaking camp with the club. The Pirates will have a week to trade, release or outright the former Padre starter.

Pirates Place Mitch Keller, Michael Feliz On 10-Day Injured List

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The Pirates placed right-handers Mitch Keller and Michael Feliz on the 10-day injured list, the club announced.  Keller is dealing with left side discomfort while Feliz is suffering from right forearm discomfort.  Right-hander Cody Ponce and southpaw Sam Howard were called up to fill the two spots on the 30-man active roster.

Keller and Feliz both left the Pirates’ 4-3 loss to the Cubs on Saturday.  Keller tossed 2 2/3 innings before bouncing a pitch to Willson Contreras and promptly asked for a trainer visit to the mound before leaving the game.  Feliz also made an immediate departure in the eighth inning, following a pitch to Jason Heyward.

Keller’s injury hints at a possible oblique strain, and even minor oblique problems have been known to sideline players for at least a couple of weeks.  If the strain ends up being more severe, Keller’s entire season could possibly be in jeopardy.  Feliz’s issue is perhaps even more ominous considering how forearm injuries can sometimes lead to Tommy John surgery, though he doesn’t have a past history of forearm or elbow issues.

Losing the two pitchers is a big hit to a Pirates team that is already short on reliable pitching options.  In the bigger picture, Keller’s injury might also present a significant setback to one of the team’s top young assets, as Keller has been a consensus top-100 prospect for the last four years.  He didn’t impress in his first Major League action last season (a 7.13 ERA over 48 innings), though the 24-year-old was still slated to be a major part of Pittsburgh’s rotation plans both in the present and in the future.

Feliz may still be best known for being part of the four-player package sent to the Pirates from the Astros in the January 2018 Gerrit Cole trade, though the righty quietly delivered some solid bottom-line numbers in 2019.  Feliz posted a 3.99 ERA, 2.70 K/BB rate, and an 11.7 K/9 over 56 1/3 innings, having some problems with home runs (1.8 HR/9) but also limiting opposing batters to just a 29.2% hard-hit ball rate.

Both Ponce and Howard will be making their debuts on the Pirates’ roster.  Howard posted a 5.87 ERA over 23 innings with the Rockies in 2018-19 before being claimed off waivers during the offseason.  He moved exclusively to relief pitching in 2019 after mostly working as a starter in his five previous pro seasons in Colorado’s farm system, and Howard has also displayed some reverse-splits tendencies over his career.

In Ponce’s case, this will be his first time in the big leagues.  A second-round pick for the Brewers in the 2015 draft, Ponce came to Pittsburgh as the return for Jordan Lyles last July, and Ponce owns a 3.83 ERA, 3.36 K/BB rate, and 8.0 K/9 over 418 2/3 minor league innings.  He has worked as both a starter and reliever in the minors, so Ponce could potentially get some rotation work for the Bucs either as a proper starter or as part of a piggyback system.

Pirates Select Miguel Del Pozo

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  • The Pirates selected left-hander Miguel Del Pozo on Tuesday, per a team announcement. The move accompanied injured list placements for two righties – Kyle Crick (lat muscle strain) and Clay Holmes (forearm strain) – as well as a recall for RHP Geoff Hartlieb. Del Pozo, who joined the Pirates on a minor league contract last offseason, was crushed in his major league debut with the Angels in 2019, when he allowed 11 earned runs on 10 hits in 9 1/3 innings. His woes continued Tuesday when he failed to retire any of the four Brewers he faced. Del Pozo walked three, gave up a double and was charged with two earned runs. The Pirates still came out on top, however, with Hartlieb as the winning pitcher.

Pirates Activate Gregory Polanco

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The Pirates have activated outfielder Gregory Polanco from the injured list. To create space, the team optioned Jason Martin to the team’s alternate training site.

Polanco had been sidelined by COVID-19. Thankfully, it seems he has recovered and is back to full health.

The Bucs will be glad to see the outfielder back in action. He has looked at times like a potential star but struggled quite a bit while battling injuries in 2019. Polanco is owed $11MM next year with successive club options thereafter.

Gregory Polanco Cleared To Resume Workouts With Pirates

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After news broke last week that Gregory Polanco had tested positive for the coronavirus, Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters (including MLB.com’s Adam Berry) that the outfielder had been cleared to resume training with the club.  According to Polanco’s personal Instagram page, he has already working out at PNC Park in preparation for his 2020 debut.

No specific timeline was given for when Polanco might return, after missing roughly two weeks of training and on-field action.  “As soon as we feel or deem his body is ready to come back, then he will be able to come back, assessment-wise,” Shelton said.  “We’re going to make sure that he’s in a position where his body is deemed healthy.”

2018 seemed like a breakout campaign for the outfielder, though the shoulder surgery that Polanco underwent late that season ended up being a lingering problem throughout 2019.  Polanco played in only 42 games and hit a lackluster .242/.301/.425 over 167 plate appearances.

Assuming he can come back with a healthy shoulder and in anything close to his 2018 form, Polanco will provide a big boost to Pittsburgh’s outfield.  Polanco is slated to eventually take over in right field, with he and Bryan Reynolds flanking the center field platoon of Jarrod Dyson and Guillermo Heredia.

Predict The NL Central Winner

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With final roster decisions in the books and the 2020 season underway at long last, it’s time to make some predictions. We’ve started to poll the MLBTR readership on each of the game’s six divisions — starting with the AL Central. With plenty more teams primed to crack the postseason under the inclusive new playoff qualification system, let’s jump the pond and take a look at the NL Central.

Kyle Hendricks gave the Cubs an early lead in the division yesterday with a 2 1/2 hour complete game shutout of the Brewers. The Reds were right there with them in blowing away the Tigers. Many believe the Reds won the offseason, and their beefed-up lineup looks to bullrush the rest of the division. Matt Davidson took the Reds’ DH at-bats in game one, but newcomers Mike Moustakas and Nicholas Castellanos will cycle through as well. The pitching is underrated, and they’re going to be a force. The Brewers roll out two of the most impactful rostered players in the sport in Josh Hader and Christian Yelich, a dangerous pair of superstars in a short season. The Pirates are an organization in transition, and if they manage a string together a competitive 60-game season, it’ll be a surprise. Until a new champ is crowned, however, the Cardinals remain the toast of the NL Central. With Carlos Martinez back in the rotation and Matt Carpenter set to take a healthy slate of DH at-bats, the 2020 Cardinals are a slightly different shape, but no less formidable.

Which team do you think is the best of the bunch? (Poll link for app users.)

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