ATLANTA -- After a protracted spring training and brief stint with Class AAA Indianapolis to open the regular season, Cole Tucker joins the Pirates for Friday night's game against the Braves, the team announced.
"Provides versatility. Been swinging the bat better. Been working on some things. Opportunity to see him," Derek Shelton said ahead of Friday night's game against the Braves.
The move comes as the Pirates placed outfielder Ka'ai Tom on the injured list with a left wrist issue. It's a curious time to make this decision in regards to Tucker. The 24-year-old had 12 hits in his first 56 at-bats (.214) with the Indians following a personal extended spring training.
He is already on the 40-man roster with options remaining but he has only played shortstop so far in Indianapolis and some second base in the spring. The moves leaves the Pirates with only three natural outfielders.
"[Tucker] is going to be an infielder, but I think his versatility helps us if we need him to go to the outfield," Shelton said, positing that Adam Frazier has also filled in as an outfielder when necessary.
Although Ben Cherington would not say that the Tucker outfield experiment is finished, the Pirates earlier this week brought in another infielder, Ildemaro Vargas, and designated outfielder Troy Stokes Jr. for assignment. Stokes has since been outrighted to Indianapolis.
Tucker never came north with the club to the alternate site at the start of the major league regular season. He instead stayed down in Bradenton, first with the only other Indy hitter on the 40-man, Jared Oliva, to get skill-specific training, most of which focused on his work with the bat.
Cherington explained at the time that the goal was to allow Tucker to finely tune the way his body moved throughout his swing in a non-competitive environment.
"It’s a little unusual," Cherington said on May 1. "But to his credit, he really wanted to dedicate that time to get better. We felt like the environment there would allow for that a little bit better, a little bit more of a consistent routine."
Not much seems to have changed for the 24-year-old through the first two weeks of the minor league season. He does have three doubles and a pair of triples so far in Indianapolis, but his average is right back around that disappointing mark where it's been in his past two stints in the majors.
Shelton has remained impressed with Tucker's defensive efforts and ability to accept the fact that he needed more help at the plate.
"I give Cole a ton of credit. It’s not easy to go, ‘Hey, we’re going to go and work on some things' in Bradenton during minor league spring training when we have an alt site going on," Shelton said. "But the willingness to identify some things and work on them down there, I give him a ton of credit, and we’re starting to see signs of those things really blossom."
Oliva probably would have been a good candidate for this callup, considering the position. But he's still on the seven-day minor league IL with an oblique strain.
MORE FROM PREGAME
• It's been a difficult month for injuries around the league. With the minor-league season in full swing, the prospect injury report is also starting to grow. On Friday, the Pirates announced that Nick Gonzales will not participate in full baseball activity for four to six weeks after suffering a "fracture to the volar plate" of his right pinkie finger. In layman's terms, he has a break to the bone on the palm side of the larger knuckle in his pinkie.
The No. 7 overall pick in the 2020 draft was placed on the seven-day IL for high Class A Greensboro. It seemed Gonzales was doing something noteworthy with the Grasshoppers every night. He was batting .294/.368/.549 with a pair of homers and seven doubles through his first 13 games with the team.
Gonzales' double-play partner and fellow top prospect, Liover Peguero, is also on the IL with a right knee injury. Peguero was enjoying a very successful season, in which he was batting .364/.417/.682 in 22 at-bats.
• Shelton still won't publicize much information on Trevor Cahill's injured left calf other than to say that there was a "slight improvement." Cahill limped off the field in the second inning of his start Wednesday against the Cardinals in St. Louis.
