Clint Hurdle speculated Wednesday afternoon that in the absence of any roster moves, the Pittsburgh Pirates would have had only three bullpen arms available for that night’s game against the Washington Nationals.

So the Pirates brought in some reinforcements: right-handers Dario Agrazal and Parker Markel were recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Chris Archer and Clay Holmes each were placed on the 10-day injured list after Archer experienced shoulder inflammation early in a start Tuesday and Holmes came in to relieve him.

Holmes went 3 2/3 innings Tuesday, two days after he tossed two innings in Williamsport against the Chicago Cubs. That made for 105 pitches thrown over a 48-hour span.

“Which I feel bad about, that volume,” Hurdle said. “I can’t remember the last time I had somebody throw 100 pitches through two outings. He pitched well through them.”

Officially, Holmes’ IL designation was because of “left quadriceps discomfort.”

“That last pitch he threw (Tuesday), he felt some discomfort in his left quad,” Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said, “and when he came in (Wednesday) to reassess, he wasn’t able to go.”

Markel, 28, was a waiver claim from the Seattle Mariners in late July. He pitched three innings over two appearances for the Pirates earlier this month. He has a 1.74 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 75 strikeouts in 41 1/3 minor-league innings for three teams in two organizations this season.

Agrazal went 2-3 with a 4.29 ERA in eight starts for the Pirates between June 15-Aug. 5. But he had an 8.36 ERA and allowed seven home runs over his final three outings and was demoted to Triple-A. In two starts for Indianapolis since, Agrazal allowed eight runs on 14 hits in nine innings.

“The numbers are skewed,” Hurdle said. “ … But there’s also residual effect sometimes when you get sent out. So you give the kid some space. You let him go to work. He showed up, he did his work and he’s gonna compete on the mound. I think the longer he stayed, the better it would have got.

“This is probably a big boost of adrenaline for him to get this call back. We’ve seen some good here, and he went down with a short list of areas to (improve) to be the most effective pitcher up here. He’s aware of those. He’s gonna get an opportunity to get plugged back in and throw some punches back at the league.”

If Agrazal is not needed as a long reliever in the interim, it’s likely he will take Archer’s place in the rotation and start Sunday against the Cincinnati Reds.

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