Three days of weather-related postponements in Omaha might delay catcher Yasmani Grandal’s return to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ active roster.
Grandal, a 12-year veteran, hasn’t played with the Pirates this season and has been on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Indianapolis while recovering from plantar fasciitis in his left foot. He was limited in spring training and has played in six games with the Indians, who haven’t had a game since Thursday in Omaha where rain forced postponements Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Pirates general manager Ben Cherington said Sunday on his radio show on 93.7 FM that Grandal wants to catch in back-to-back games before returning to the majors.
“He has felt pretty strongly, and we agree and support it,” Cherington said, “that he would like to catch back-to-back before (major-league) activation. We were going to get that to happen the past few days, but we couldn’t get it to happen. We’ll pick it up (Tuesday) where we left off. We’ll get him back in the games as soon as we can, as safely as we can.
“It happens, right, you have strange weather. You just have to adjust.”
The Indians are scheduled to return to Indianapolis on Tuesday to play the Buffalo Bisons at Victory Field. Cherington was not specific on when Grandal might return to the Pirates.
Paul Skenes is scheduled to pitch Tuesday, so the postponements won’t affect his schedule, Cherington said. He may pitch again next Sunday, but Cherington was noncommittal on Skenes’ schedule beyond Tuesday.
“It at least lines up to leave that possibility open,” he said. “We haven’t made that decision yet. We’ll get through Tuesday’s game and reconvene.”
