Chris Archer, who went on the injured list Wednesday just as he was starting to make improvements as a starter, went for a second opinion on his shoulder injury last week, and it confirmed he has inflammation that needs rest.
Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said Archer’s situation will be reassessed over the next 10 days. He is not eligible to come off the injured list until Saturday.
Until then and probably beyond that day, the Pirates will go with a starting rotation of Joe Musgrove, Steven Brault, Mitch Keller, Trevor Williams and Dario Agrazal.
Musgrove, Brault and Keller will pitch the three games in Philadelphia starting Monday.
Archer improved his ERA in August from 5.58 to 5.19 and has not allowed a home run in his past four starts. That’s after giving up 25 through July.
Huntington said the injury will have no effect on the Pirates’ decision whether to pick up Archer’s $8.25 million option next year.
What about Hayes?
Third base prospect Ke’Bryan Hayes, 22, has raised his slash line at Triple-A Indianapolis to .262/.331/.416, giving rise to fans’ hopes he will be among the September call-ups.
Hayes’ hot streak that included four multihit games could affect the call-up decision “in theory,” Huntington said.
“We love the defense. We love the young man,” he said. “We want to make sure we understand what this good stretch means, how he’s turned the corner and how does it play at the major league level. And do we feel he’d be ready to go on Opening Day next year, and if so, what does that mean for the bigger picture?”
Huntington suggested fans looking for a mass insertion of minor league prospects to the Pirates roster should take a second look.
“I know everybody just wants to bring up every prospect and play the prospect,” Huntington said. “Seventeen or 18 of our (major-league) guys (have) less than three years of major league service (time), so we are playing the young players.”
New home for Cervelli
Huntington said there was no market for catcher Francisco Cervelli before the trade deadline because he was on the injured list with a concussion.
But he told Cervelli his rehab assignments in the minors were essentially an audition for 30 teams.
“At that point in time, it was tough to trade an injured player, especially with the questions that he had,” Huntington said. “That’s no offense to Francisco, but just an injured player with the questions he had.”
Huntington said the team might have eventually reinstated Cervelli to the major league roster if there was an injury or in September. But when the Atlanta Braves indicated interest, the Pirates, as a courtesy for Cervelli’s five years of service in Pittsburgh, put him on waivers so he could “pursue a different opportunity.”
Cervelli was 3 for 5 with two doubles and three RBIs on Saturday in his first game with the Braves.
