Andrew McCutchen was slated to DH and bat third in the Pirates' eventual 4-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Friday night at PNC Park. However, he was a late scratch for the game because of a sprained left ankle, and his status for days to come is now up in the air.
McCutchen was not made available to Derek Shelton during the game, our site confirmed, and, afterward, McCutchen described his injury to reporters, explaining that he twisted the ankle "going through my normal routine, outfield drills and — I still don’t know how — my foot gave, I slipped, twisted it awkwardly — and I knew I had to come to the trainer’s room."
He added that he doesn't think it's serious while also cautioning that he could wake up Saturday and have it swell on him.
Also in the game, Ji Hwan Bae fouled a ball off his right foot in the eighth inning, limped toward first and was pulled before the ninth. Shelton had no immediate update on his status, and Bae wasn't in the clubhouse.
Earlier in the day, the Pirates placed Vince Velasquez on the 15-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. However, his prognosis is still undetermined.
"We’re still getting information," Shelton said. "There’s tests that are still being run to know where he’s at and where he’s going to go. So, I don’t have any further information. I’m sure Todd (Tomczyk) will have that when we get there."
As far as how the Pirates plan to address Velasquez's spot in the rotation, that is also still undetermined. The Pirates are weighing all of their options before that spot comes back around on May 9, including a traditional spot starter, calling up a prospect or going with a "non-traditional" role (opener, piggyback, etc.)
For those clamoring for Luis Ortiz's potential call up, Shelton refused to tip his hand on what the Pirates might or might not do.
"I hear a lot of things about it," Shelton chuckled. "But what I’m going to share with you guys and what I hear is two different things."
The Pirates' pitching depth has already been tested this season. JT Brubaker and Mike Burrows went down for the year when they underwent Tommy John surgery. Velasquez said he was "optimistic" after the loss to the Rays on Thursday, but the quality options behind him are getting thin.
"We’ve always talked about pitching depth, how important it is and what we’re going to do with it," Shelton said. "This is why you try to add as much pitching as possible, because you know you’re not going to go through a season where you’re going to have five starters and you’re going to have 13 guys in your bullpen. And, I think that’s the thing. We build our depth out as much as possible, then we figure out how we’re going to use it. The other thing we can figure out is when we have off days, what the guy that’s done the day before and what he’s thrown in terms of how we’re going to use and deploy our guys."
With Velasquez going on the injured list, the Pirates activated Chase De Jong and added him to the active roster. Shelton said he'll primarily be used in a long relief role, or potentially in a leverage spot if the matchups align.