BRADENTON, Fla. – Pirates’ 2017 second round pick Conner Uselton is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury. The outfielder suffered the injury last Thursday in his second professional game, trying to beat out a ground ball to first.
“I just reached out for the bag and felt something,” Uselton said.
He needed help off the field after the play, but was walking around on Friday, with a limp. He had an MRI that afternoon. I reached out to Pirates’ farm director Larry Broadway, who said at the moment that there is no timetable for his return, as the team physicians are still working on his treatment plan.
Yeudy Garcia Pitching in Relief
Yeudy Garcia is currently returning from a lower back injury, and has been making rehab appearances in the GCL. The interesting thing is that the Altoona starter has been making relief appearances. Garcia said that he felt better after his first appearance, and that the plan is to continue pitching out of the bullpen.
“I’ll go to the bullpen for a couple of times,” Garcia said. “Right now I’m throwing in the GCL as a reliever, and then they said I’ll go to Altoona.”
The plan is for him to continue pitching in relief in Altoona, according to Broadway.
“He will be pitching out of the bullpen for at least the immediate future with Altoona,” Broadway said. “We will reevaluate once he gets some innings back under his belt.”
Garcia has shown some struggles in the last year, and has dealt with some injury issues, most notably dealing with shoulder soreness. He may perform better out of the bullpen, just because of the reduced workload, and the ability for his stuff to play up in shorter outings.
Gift Ngoepe Close to a Return
By Brian Peloza
Gift Ngoepe (7-day DL) is tentatively scheduled to return to the Indianapolis lineup on Wednesday as he recovers from a hamstring injury. Ngoepe ran the bases at full-speed prior to Sunday’s game and has been taking batting practice for a few days, as he slowly returns to all baseball-related activities. His rehab is evidently going well, as Ngoepe could be seen kicking a soccer ball around with Indianapolis manager Andy Barkett’s kids immediately after running the basepaths on Sunday.
