Pirates place Tucupita Marcano on 60-day injured list, promote infielder Alika Williams from Triple-A

The Pittsburgh Pirates placed infielder Tucupita Marcano on the 60-day injured list Tuesday night, most likely ending his season, after he suffered a serious injury to his right knee Monday night in San Diego.

To fill Marcano’s roster spot, shortstop/second baseman Alika Williams was selected from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Williams, 24, was chosen by the Tampa Bay Rays with a compensatory round selection (No. 37 overall) in the 2020 MLB Draft. The Pirates acquired him June 2 in a trade for pitcher Robert Stephenson.

Williams started this season at the Rays’ Double-A affiliate in Montgomery, but the Pirates promoted him to Triple-A Indianapolis after the trade.

After slashing .237/.314./.417 in Double-A, Williams found some offensive punch in Indianapolis where he was hitting .305/.384/.531 with seven homers in 36 games.

Williams, 24, will give the Pirates middle infield depth, with fellow rookies Liover Peguero and Nick Gonzales.

“Really good defender,” manager Derek Shelton said of Williams on the AT&T SportsNet show. “Our (hitting instructors in Indianapolis) have done a really good job getting him into a solid foundation. He’s having good at-bats.

“We’re talking about a kid who is young, and we’re young and have a lot of opportunties for younger players.”

Meanwhile, the Pirates announced that third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who has been on the injured list with low back inflammation for most of the past month since June 28, began a rehab assignment Tuesday night in Indianapolis.

“We just need to get him reps,” Shelton said. “Just because of the time he’s missed. Hopefully, we’ll get him back as quickly as possible because he’s an important part of our club.”

In another transaction, pitcher Wil Crowe cleared waivers and was assigned to Indianapolis.