Jeff Karstens felt pain in his right shoulder while rehabbing on Friday.

Karstens had been rehabbing the injured shoulder with Triple-A Indianapolis when the setback occurred. Pirates general manager Neal Huntington told Pirates Prospects he would have a decision to make about what role Karstens would have when he returned from the disabled list but now it appears that decision could be pushed back.

Vic Black has been placed on the DL with a left oblique injury.

The other day Vic Black left the Indianapolis Indians game after getting one out. Today Black was placed on the Triple-A disabled list with a left-oblique injury. The move was backdated to May 22nd. No word yet on when Black will return, or how serious the injury is.

Vic Black left today’s game with an unknown injury.

Vic Black left today’s Indianapolis Indians game with an unknown injury today. Al Skorupa of Bullpen Banter has the details.

So Victor Black came in. Looked pretty sharp. 93-97. SL mid 80s. Left after two batters with an injury (unclear what. Maybe groin?) #Pirates

— Al Skorupa (@alskor) May 21, 2013

Black came on in relief in the eighth inning and got a quick out. He was then removed for Erik Cordier. Black has dealt with injury problems in the past involving his elbow and shoulder, but has been clear of those problems for the past two seasons.

Alex Dickerson has been placed on the DL with a concussion.

Last night Alex Dickerson was involved in a collision at first base, and was removed from the field on an ambulance. He was conscious when he left the field, waving to fans. Today he was placed on the Altoona disabled list with a concussion. To take his place on the roster, Justin Howard has been activated off the disabled list.

Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said a decision will have to be made on if Jeff Karstens will be a part of the starting rotation or pitch out of the bullpen when he returns from injury

Huntington gave me an update on the Pirates’ rehabbing pitchers as well as John McDonald.

In McDonald’s (the infielder, not the pitcher) case Huntington said he complained of how his elbow had been bothering him while receiving treatment after his back locked up earlier this week in extra innings against Milwaukee.

“We’re treating both at the same time,” Huntington said. “We fully expect that he’ll be healthy and ready to go.”

Perhaps the most interesting thing Huntington brought up was the case of Jeff Karstens, who made his most recent rehab start for Altoona on Saturday. With the somewhat surprising results (in a good way) Pittsburgh has received from guys like Jeff Locke and Jeanmar Gomez, I asked Huntington how he would go about deciding who fills what role when the ailing arms start to make their way back to PNC Park from their minor league rehab stints.

“Jeff continues to work back and we’ll have a decision to make with him at some point and time — rotation or bullpen,” he said. “We’ll worry about that piece by piece and we’ll put plans in place. We’ll have Plan A and B and C and probably all the way down to Z. If you had asked me on April 15 where our rotation was going to be it would probably would have been a different configuration than it is now. That’s the nature of the beast and in our minds that’s why it’s important to have pitching depth. Starting depth in particular because it is a game of attrition and unfortunately guys do go down.”

**

Huntington on James McDonald:

“James McDonald is beginning a throwing program again. We’ll probably get him a couple sides and get him out on a rehab here, I expect in a couple weeks. A week to two.”

On Charlie Morton:

“He’s got about three more starts minimum if there are no more hiccups along the way and he continues to progress and build his pitch count.”

**

I also got to ask Huntington about the relationship between the Pirates and West Virginia. Once upon a time the Charleston Charlies were Pittsburgh’s Triple-A affiliate and featured future Pirates (and Charleston Baseball Hall of Famers) Dave Parker, Kent Tekulve, Willie Randolph, Art Howe and Dave Augustine.

The Charleston franchise was reborn as the West Virginia Power in 2005 with the opening of Appalachian Power Park and were affiliated with Milwaukee until 2009 when the Pirates returned to the Mountain State.

The partnership has been a good one so far, Huntington said.

“It’s been great,” he said. “Our guys have been very positive on the fans, the community and the facilities. It’s a good development environment and it’s a good environment to be in. We appreciate the support we’ve gotten here and we appreciate the relationship we have with the front office and the ownership group.”

The decision to return to Charleston fit within the Pirates’ plan to keep as many of their minor league teams as possible close to Pittsburgh and according to Huntington was made easier considering the history the Pirates have with West Virginia’s capital city.

“When we talked with the ownership group and the front office initially about coming back here that was I think something that was an interesting draw to them,” Huntington said. “As we learned more about it and the history, obviously we want to have as many of our teams as close to Pittsburgh as we can because we love our fans to have the ability to go ‘I remember him in A-Ball’ and maybe take a trip to Bradenton to go see them in the Florida State League or instructional league or run to Altoona.”

Chase d’Arnaud is finished with his rehab in Bradenton. Photo by Mark Olson

Chase d’Arnaud spent the last two days with the Bradenton Marauders, starting his rehab from a thumb injury in Spring Training. D’Arnaud torn the ligament in his thumb back in March, and underwent surgery in the middle of the month. At the time it was recommended that he have surgery to make sure everything was put back in place.

“It’s a good thing that [the surgery] happened, because it ended up being completely torn once they opened me up,” d’Arnaud said of the procedure.

D’Arnaud is now back on the field, and officially on his rehab assignment. The assignment started on Thursday, and gives him up to 20 days before the Pirates have to activate him from the DL. That puts his eventual return from the DL no later than June 5th. D’Arnaud has options, so the Pirates could send him to Indianapolis when he’s ready. He could also provide a good short-term option off the bench, since he has done well against left-handers in his career, and the Pirates don’t have a lot of guys who have had success against lefties.

On Friday, d’Arnaud looked good, going 2-for-3 with a walk, a triple, and a stolen base. He was making a lot of plays happen with his speed. In his first at-bat he beat out an infield single to shortstop, then stole second base. In his second at-bat he lined one into right-field, then went from first to third when the ball got past the right-fielder, who made an ill-advised dive toward the low liner. D’Arnaud later drew a walk, and took second base on a wild throw from first after a pick off move. The play would have been close with a good throw. On the field, d’Arnaud looked sharp, with one diving stop, and another difficult play deep in the hole that just missed the runner at first.

“I feel really good,” d’Arnaud said after the game. “All the time that I put in this off-season is still paying off, even though I was slowed down by injury. I’m starting off with good plays and a good foundation. I feel pretty good right now.”

After his surgery, d’Arnaud took about three weeks before he could do anything involving strengthening his hand. He has a scar in the area between his thumb and index finger, which was sore to the touch at first. That made it hard to swing a bat, and d’Arnaud wore a ring around his finger to add some separation and avoid irritating the scar. The scar isn’t tender now, but he still wears the ring to avoid irritation.

“It was a gradual process, and every week we pushed a little further and pushed through the pain, and I guess that’s the only way to really get rid of scar tissue,” d’Arnaud said.

There was a brief set-back last week when he was hit in the wrist in an extended Spring Training game up in Tampa. After the bus ride back to Bradenton, d’Arnaud’s wrist was stiff. He had X-Rays, but it was determined that it was only a bruise.

His rehab time with Bradenton ended yesterday. D’Arnaud will now go to Altoona, where he will probably rehab for about a week.

Jeff Karstens is scheduled to start for Altoona on Saturday.

– Charlie Morton pitched Thursday for Altoona, going four innings while allowing two hits (both home runs) and two runs (both earned) with one walk and one strikeout. Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said Morton is on a five-day rotation with three more rehab starts scheduled and that his next start will be for Triple-A Indianapolis.

– Jeff Karstens is scheduled to make a rehab appearance Saturday for Altoona. Hurdle said the goal for this start is to see Karstens somewhere in the four innings, 65-pitch range.

– James McDonald is still in the early stages of rehabilitation. Hurdle said McDonald recently played flat-ground catch but is not yet throwing off a mound.

Jordy Mercer is back with the Pirates. Photo Credit: David Hague

The Pittsburgh Pirates have placed infielder John McDonald on the 15-day disabled list, and have recalled Jordy Mercer from Indianapolis.

There were a lot of words written last week about Jordy Mercer being sent down. A lot of those words came on this site, and from me. It’s great to see Mercer back and McDonald out. However, it’s kind of a strange situation. This obviously shows that the Pirates were more concerned with keeping McDonald in the system, rather than getting Mercer regular playing time. If the concern was regular playing time for Mercer, we’d see Josh Harrison or Ivan De Jesus called up for this important backup role. I’m not sure why there’s such a need to keep McDonald around, to the point where you’d send down a hot hitter like Mercer.

It will be interesting to see how much playing time Mercer gets. I wrote all last week that Mercer should get Inge’s role, taking occasional starts at second, shortstop, and third base. He could bat for Neil Walker or Pedro Alvarez when a lefty is on the mound, and start for Clint Barmes once a week.

UPDATE 2:33 PM: Mercer is starting at shortstop tonight, and batting 8th.

Jeff Karstens threw three innings in Bradenton tonight.

Jeff Karstens made his first rehab start tonight for the Bradenton Marauders, going up against the Clearwater Thrashers. Karstens was scheduled to throw three innings or 50 pitches. He ended up going three innings, allowing one run on four hits, with no walks and four strikeouts. The right-hander needed 42 pitches to get through the outing.

Karstens had a rough start to the game, giving up back-to-back singles to Carlos Alonso and Kelly Dugan. He rebounded with a fly out to center field, which moved Alonso over to third base, followed by a strikeout against Chris Serritella. Karstens almost escaped the inning by getting a chopper to third base. Benji Gonzalez charged the ball and tried to make a Pedro Alvarez-style barehanded play, but missed the ball completely, allowing a run to score. Karstens left a fastball up in the zone in the next at-bat, but got away with it, getting a soft liner to second for the final out.

“I had to slow down a little bit,” Karstens said of the first inning. “Being back out for the first time, you always have a little adrenalin. So I just kind of told myself to calm down, stay back a little bit, and be myself. That’s all I had to do.”

The second inning was much better. He started off with back to back strikeouts, and got an easy grounder to first baseman Jose Osuna for the third out. Karstens also didn’t have much trouble in the third inning. The only issue came with two outs, after back to back ground outs to second baseman Dan Gamache. Karstens gave up his only hard hit ball of the day, giving up a triple off the outfield wall to one of the deepest parts of the park against Maikel Franco. Carlos Mesa ranged over to make the play, but the ball was just out of his reach. Karstens was able to end his outing with a strikeout looking on a 1-2 pitch, stranding Franco at third.

Karstens was throwing his fastball on a downward plane, keeping it at the knees to a lot of batters. He threw a few off-speed pitches, including flashing a nice curveball in the third inning. After the game he said he was going for a good mix of pitches and the same approach as he would in Pittsburgh.

“I felt like all of my off-speed stuff was a little ahead of my fastball, as far as location,” Karstens said of his command. “I told myself in between innings, with a lefty up I wanted to end him with a front door sinker, and I was able to do that with my last pitch. If I can continue to do stuff like that, I’ll be just fine.”

The next step for Karstens will be another rehab start in Bradenton. He will throw four innings and about 55-60 pitches on Saturday for the Marauders. He only threw 42 tonight, and wasn’t able to throw the final eight due to the bullpen being in a tough to get to place behind the wall out in left-center field.

Eventually the Pirates could have the option to use Karstens as a reliever, which would speed up his rehab time. As a starter, if he follows the same path as Francisco Liriano, he would have about four more starts ahead of him. At this point I can’t see the Pirates moving him off the starting path. Charlie Morton could be returning at the end of the month, but the Pirates would still be one injury away from Jeanmar Gomez in the rotation. Gomez has performed well, but you’d like to have more options than him, and Karstens would definitely provide a good option. For now, Karstens is working as a starter, and hasn’t been told otherwise.

“They haven’t indicated anything to me,” Karstens said of his future role. “It’s not in my hands. My job is to go out there and pitch, and when that time comes then hopefully the decision will be made by then.”

Charlie Morton will resume his rehab work on Thursday.

A few injury updates this morning:

**Rob Biertempfel has an update on Charlie Morton, who will be making a rehab start on Thursday for Altoona:

#Pirates Morton slated to make rehab start Thursday for Double-A Altoona

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) May 12, 2013

Game plan for Charlie Morton includes 2 rehab starts. If all goes well, he could rejoin #Pirates on or around May 26

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) May 12, 2013

The 26th would be Morton making two starts, and getting five days rest. That would give Jeanmar Gomez three starts in the Pirates’ rotation, including today’s start against the Mets. The Pirates couldn’t really avoid that third start. They have an off-day on May 20th, which means they could move A.J. Burnett and Jeff Locke up a day and keep them on five days rest. The problem is they’d need a starter on the 25th, and would be left with a choice of Wandy Rodriguez or Charlie Morton on four days rest.

**Bill Brink reports that Jeff Karstens will be throwing three innings and 50 pitches tomorrow for Bradenton.

Jeff Karstens is scheduled for three innings or 50 pitches Monday for Class A Bradenton.

— Bill Brink (@BrinkPG) May 12, 2013

I’ll be at that start in Clearwater, and will have a report on the game. Francisco Liriano did the same thing in his rehab, starting off in Bradenton, then quickly moving to Altoona. If the Pirates keep Karstens as a starter, then he would have about four more starts after this one to be fully stretched out. He could be back sooner if they choose to make him a multi-inning reliever. However, I don’t see that happening right now. Charlie Morton will probably join the rotation at the end of the month, but we don’t know when James McDonald will be back, or how effective he will be. That leaves the rotation one injury away from having Gomez as their only option again. It would be better to have Karstens in that role.

**Biertempfel updates us on Chase d’Arnaud, who was hit in the hand with a pitch in yesterday’s extended Spring Training game.

#Pirates Chase d’Arnaud HBP on wrist yesterday in ext ST game, x-rays negative. He’s already on mend from thumb surgery.

— Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) May 12, 2013

The next home game for extended Spring Training is Thursday, so if d’Arnaud is still there, I’ll get a chance to see him then.