Pirates notes: Colin Moran returns to action, expected back in lineup soon
Two days after he had to leave game after being hit by a pitch on his right hand, Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Colin Moran returned to game action Friday.
Though Moran was not in the lineup for the night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers, Pirates manager Derek Shelton called on him to pinch hit. Moran struck out against closer Josh Hader to end Friday’s 7-4 loss.
“There’s a chance that (Moran) could be in the lineup at some point this weekend,” Shelton said before the game.
Philip Evans started at first base Friday after Shelton had deployed Erik Gonzalez at the position for Thursday afternoon’s series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The game in which Moran was hit by a 93-mph David Price sinker was Moran’s third back since spending four weeks on the injured list because of a left groin strain.
The Pirates’ usual cleanup hitter, Moran entered the weekend hitting .292/.353/.458 with four home runs in 35 games this season.
Options for Keller
Shelton said the Pirates are considering their options with Mitch Keller, their 25-year-old starter with ace-caliber potential who is languishing with a 7.04 ERA this season.
“I think we will talk trough a variety of different things,” Shelton said Friday.
“It could be something creative. It could be something different.”
Shelton has previously downplayed any consideration to sending Keller to the minors or the bullpen. A day after Keller couldn’t get through four innings of a start for the sixth time in 12 starts this season, Shelton on Friday was presented with ideas such as “piggybacking” a Keller start with another pitcher (in effect, predetermining he won’t pitch more than 3-4 innings).
Shelton didn’t dismiss the idea. He also noted Keller was — in Keller’s words Thursday — “(ticked) off” about another poor outing.
“The fact that he’s frustrated, I appreciate that,” Shelton said. “He shouldn’t be happy with the fastball command or the situation that we’re running into. We will talk about it. It will be in a very direct and a very positive tone. The fact that he’s beating himself up, there’s no sense in continuing to beat him up. We have to be very honest with where he’s at and how he’s going about it.”
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Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
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