PIRATES

With Ryan O'Hearn on the shelf for what's expected to be up to a month with a quad injury, the Pirates have added some additional outfield depth in the form of Jhostynxon Garcia, who was recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis this afternoon. 

The move comes just two days after Nick Yorke was optioned back to the minors and Jake Mangum was activated from the injured list. Garcia, Mangum, Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and Billy Cook now consist of the Pirates' outfield options with O'Hearn injured. 

"Very excited about the opportunity and happy to be here," Garcia said via interpreter and major-league coach Stephen Morales. "Just take full advantage of the opportunity." 

Garcia, who recently spent some time on the minor-league injured list with a back injury, wasn't lighting the world on fire down in the minors, hitting just .205 with a .612 OPS in 19 games with Indianapolis this season. His last 11 minor-league games between a rehab assignment with low Class A Bradenton and Indianapolis included some success, though, as he hit .368 with a 1.327 OPS, six home runs and 10 RBIs.

“He had a good week in Triple-A coming back off the injury," Don Kelly said. "He had a great spring training and he has a really exciting skill set he brings to the table. The power, he’s got surprising speed, has a really good arm and plays really good outfield defense. Excited to have him here.” 

Kelly said that Garcia will be in the outfield on most days during his time in the big leagues. He'll get some runway and get his share of at-bats, but he's not going to be in there every single day considering he's still rather fresh off the back injury that kept him shelved in the minors. 

Still, Garcia will undoubtedly benefit from any opportunities he's given at the big-league level. There's plenty of talent there, and it was evident enough for the Pirates to want to acquire him from the Red Sox in exchange for Johan Oviedo this winter. But he's unproven at this level with just nine major-league plate appearances under his belt. 

"When you talk about Garcia coming up and having the opportunity, it stinks that O’Hearn got hurt, but there is opportunity for guys to get at-bats and be able to step up," Kelly said. 

That's an opportunity Garcia intends to make the most of. 

"The (opportunity with the) Red Sox last year wasn't the same one, it was shorter," Garcia said. "But I think I feel like I have a really good chance here to do my thing."