MILWAUKEE — The shoulder injury Gregory Polanco suffered on his ugly slide could keep him out of the Pirates' lineup until next June, and Chad Kuhl's elbow will be re-examined by a surgeon next week.
That news was made public hours before Chris Archer allowed two home runs in a 7-4 loss to the Brewers at Miller Park on Friday night. The team announced Polanco's surgically-repaired left shoulder — which included an acute dislocation and torn labrum — may require up to nine months for a full recovery, and Kuhl is heading back to Dr. David Altchek's office in New York after a setback in St. Louis three days earlier.
While Archer replaced Kuhl in the rotation last month, the loss of Polanco creates uncertainty for a team that traded a prominent bench bat two weeks ago and could part with two veteran starters this offseason. However, one internal candidate to fill the void is trying to show the front office what he could provide as a potential replacement in right field.
Jordan Luplow, an early favorite to start in place of Polanco on opening day and the organization's minor league player of the year in 2017, reached safely in two of five at-bats Friday night, including an RBI triple in the third inning.
"There's a lot of things you can’t measure in the game, which really locks a lot of people up because if they can’t measure it, they can’t throw their name on it or say, ‘Whoa, this is what I’ve got,’" Clint Hurdle beamed. "You don’t know what you’ve got unless you want to throw your neck out there, your reputation and go out there early, saying, ‘No, this is what I believe, and I don’t have any numbers to back it up, but my eyes tell me, my gut tells me this kid can play ball.’ That’s where I’ve gone with [Luplow]. My eyes and my gut tell me the kid can play ball. We’ll find out. I think he can."
Luplow, who will turn 25 later this month, is hitting .412 in seven games since being recalled Sept. 4 when Triple-A Indianapolis' season ended, including an opposite-field home run on a 101-mph fastball from Marlins reliever Tayron Guerrero last week at PNC Park. But he owns a career .220 average in 141 major league at-bats. He was never ranked among the club's top prospects by any publication and hasn't generated buzz the way Austin Meadows did upon debuting in April.
Luplow, a third-round pick in 2014, had his contract selected by the Pirates last July after only 74 at-bats in Triple-A and was recalled again when rosters expanded, receiving 13 starts in right field while Polanco was dealing with a lingering hamstring injury. He batted only .225 in 20 total starts, yet he was a candidate to be the club's starting left fielder this season before Corey Dickerson was acquired from the Rays in late February.
Luplow didn't make the opening day roster. He wasn't even the outfielder recalled when Starling Marte went on the disabled list with an oblique strain in May.
"It hurt," Luplow told DKPittsburghSports.com. "Obviously, it stung. It was my first time someone telling me I wasn’t good enough to make a team. A lot of guys would say the same thing, being baseball players, that from Little League all the way up they haven’t been cut from a team. I had to go with the punches. You can’t dwell on it. I had to find a way to get back."
While Meadows batted .409 in 44 May at-bats to be named National League Rookie of the Month, Luplow was emerging from a difficult April in which he batted just .180 with two extra-base hits in 18 games. Cold weather didn't help — including five postponements the first two weeks of the season — but the problem was more complicated.
Luplow was overthinking during his at-bats. Rather than focusing on getting a mistake to hit in the zone, he was trying to analyze each pitch before it was thrown. That caused him to miss fastballs he typically hit hard. He didn't have a home run in April after leading the Pirates' farm system with 23 between Triple-A and Double-A one year earlier.
So, Luplow visited his personal hitting coach, Benny Craig, during an off-day in Indianapolis. The two collaborated to rediscover his swing and approach. The results were almost immediate. He hit five home runs with 23 RBIs in May, followed by 16 RBIs and a .909 OPS in June.
"He came ready to make a team," Brian Esposito, Triple-A Indianapolis' manager, said. "That’s what you want from every guy, whether you’re the last man invited or you’re the star. You should always have that expectation. He was a guy that started off with early struggles. He couldn’t quite find his swing. ... He put himself back into a really good position. Started driving in runs, getting on base and did some really good things defensively. He’s as close to a complete player as you’d want."
Luplow watched as 12 of his teammates in Indianapolis got the call before him. First it was Clay Holmes. Then Kyle Crick, Richard Rodriguez, Max Moroff, Jose Osuna, Nick Kingham, Meadows, Dovydas Neverauskas, Jacob Stallings, Tanner Anderson, Josh Smoker and Adam Frazier.
He didn't appear in his first game with the Pirates until July 6 and didn't make an impact until eight days later when he homered twice in the second game of a doubleheader against the Brewers. Luplow was sent back to the minors in August when the Pirates were in need of bullpen reinforcements, only rejoining them when rosters expanded.
Yet, there he was Friday night, delivering an RBI triple to the corner in right off lefty Gio Gonzalez in the third inning and scoring moments later on a sacrifice fly:
He also walked, stole a base and flashed his arm strength from right field. Hurdle will give Frazier playing time in right this month whenever he also wants to get Kevin Kramer in the lineup. Pablo Reyes, who homered off Gonzalez in the fifth inning, could also see time there. In addition, the Pirates are likely to lose Jordy Mercer and Josh Harrison this offseason.
Neal Huntington has suggested he could dip into the free agent market; however, he didn't sign one major league free agent last offseason, relying instead on minor-league pickups. Polanco's six-to-nine month timetable could have him back only two weeks into the season. Still, Hurdle wants to take a long look at Luplow with the Pirates now 72-74 and on the brink of officially being eliminated from playoff contention.
"I've been able to turn the page and move on," Luplow said.
1. Archer settles in after rocky beginning.
Archer is the first to admit he hasn't lived up to his own expectations, and this was another blah start that could have been worse.
Here's a snap shot of the hard contact the Brewers made against the Pirates' deadline acquisition:
He had a pair of 3-2 counts in the first inning, only to allow back-to-back hits, capped by Christian Yelich's two-run homer off the batter's eye. Travis Shaw homered two batters later. Like Archer's previous struggles, he had trouble putting away hitters and his fastball command was erratic.
"My stuff was just flat in the first inning," Archer lamented. "Can’t come out flat at any point, whether it’s the first or the seventh. You have to come out sharp.
Archer responded by retiring 11 of the next 13 batters he faced, including seven of his eight strikeouts, to keep the Pirates within striking distance. His offense tied it up in the top of the fifth; however, he was chased from the game after some tough luck and a bad pitch. Orlando Arcia reached on an infield single when he struck Archer in the rear end with a line drive and scored on a sacrifice fly when Jesus Aguilar managed to hit a hanging curveball to left.
Archer struck out Ryan Braun to strand a runner on second, but he had already thrown 103 pitches, 67 for strikes.
"The mistakes that are being made are being paid for," Hurdle said.
On the other hand, Archer did show progress using the two pitches he added to his repertoire. He threw 23 two-seam fastballs to keep the Brewers off his slider, which produced 13 of his 16 swinging strikes, and the curveball bought him a strike against Lorenzo Cain in the second inning. Archer now has a 5.49 ERA in 39 1/3 innings with the Pirates, yet he expressed an eagerness to finish strong.
"Life has a funny way of challenging you," Archer said. "2018 has definitely been a challenge. There’s not going to be any backing down from me."
2. Reyes padding his resume.
Reyes, also 25, is making the most of his September opportunity. The 5-foot-8 utility man is now batting .375 in seven games since joining the team at the conclusion of Indy's season. He's started four games at three different positions, including twice in left field. With Corey Dickerson off against a lefty, Reyes reached safely in each of his first three plate appearances, capped by his solo homer to left.
He wasn't even ranked among the Pirates' top 30 prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. Yet, Reyes is padding his resume to at least earn a long look as a potential utility man next spring. He batted .289 with 20 doubles, eight home runs and 36 RBIs in 110 games with the Indians this season.
"He’s got no fear to swing," Hurdle said of Reyes. "He’s just a young kid that's getting an opportunity, that knows that he likes to hit. He likes to swing the bat. … The kid’s shown the ability to swing the bat everywhere he’s been and swing it with authority for the size he is. He takes a big hack."
Reyes could be an ideal replacement for Sean Rodriguez, who was designated for assignment last month, since the Pirates' roster is dotted with left-handed bats, and he can play six different positions. Roster spots aren't earned in September, but this should be enough for Neal Huntington to make sure Reyes doesn't walk as a minor-league free agent.
After all, this is an impressive swing from someone of his stature:
"In Triple-A I hit a couple homers on the same pitch," Reyes said. "I don’t get scared to swing during my at-bats. I have confidence in my swing. I’m ready every time. If he threw me something in the zone I was ready for that."
3. Osuna also getting a look at third base.
Jose Osuna, not Colin Moran, started at third base with a lefty on the mound. Osuna, 25, is being given an opportunity to possibly replace David Freese as the Pirates' backup at first and third base, though this was only his second career start at third. He didn't have a ball hit to him in nine innings Friday and fielded only one ball there last Saturday.
But he's showing progress at the plate after struggling in a bench role when recalled earlier this season. Osuna reached safely in two of his four at-bats, drawing a leadoff walk in the second and doubling off right-handed reliever Corbin Burnes in the sixth inning. Osuna has stunk as a pinch-hitter and is batting only .224 in 124 big-league at-bats, making him a high-risk option to replace a player who became a catalyst for the Pirates' unprecedented run in July.