PITTSBURGH — The Pirates made very few traditional September call-ups on Friday. Reliever A.J. Schugel came up on Sunday when Gerrit Cole landed on the disabled list. Fellow reliever Kelvin Marte and infielder Alen Hanson were also brought up earlier this week with the team short on depth in Chicago.
So for their first game day after the rosters expanded to 40 men, the Pirates were quiet. Starters Steven Brault and Jameson Taillon and utilityman Adam Frazier were released from their sequestration in Bristol, Va., Chris Stewart came off the disabled list and first baseman Jason Rogers was recalled from Triple-A.
It’s a far cry from the days when the Pirates roster would change dramatically on Sept. 1 with an eye to the future. The players this week are expected to contribute as role players on this team down the stretch, but none are top prospects.
“I think it has a lot do with where we are in the playoff race,” said relief pitcher Jared Hughes, himself a September call-up back in 2011. “Some guys come in and fill big roles immediately. Some guys, we might need for a certain thing. We might need them to pinch run. If that’s going to help us win a game and get into the playoffs or win the division, that’s what we need.”
Manager Clint Hurdle said that’s the way it’s been throughout his time in baseball. Teams that are in the playoff hunt use their call-ups sparingly, while those on the outside looking in keep one eye on the future.
“My first call-up was [in 1977],” he said. “We were basically fill-ins to give a guy a break. … We were just fitting in where the manager thought we filled in. It wasn’t like we were auditioning for anything.”
But during Hurdle’s tenure with the Colorado Rockies and during his early seasons in Pittsburgh, there was an increased focus on bringing up players for evaluation and familiarity.
“It’s all been about getting guys opportunities that had earned them, that we felt could help the club in some aspect, whether it’s with the glove, the ball, the bat or on the mound,” he said. “Part of it is getting some of the newer guys in the environment here.”
But partially as a result of promoting several players from Triple-A during the season, the Pirates are currently bereft of that type of prospect. Hanson is probably the closest thing, having played just four games with the Pirates earlier this season.
CHANGES IN ATTITUDE
Hurdle isn’t particularly fond of managing games in the National League after Sept. 1, saying “it’s one game for five months” but another for the final month. But that hasn’t stopped him from embracing the number of options provided by an expanded roster.
“We’re playing by the rules,” he said. “I get asked this every year. Do I like it? … No, I don’t. Then I go ahead and try to get my general manager to give me as many guys as we can that give us something that we didn’t have when we were maintaining a 25-man roster.”
So what does this group bring tactically?
Hanson has been playing all around the diamond in Indianapolis in an effort to increase his value as a utility player. He’s hitting .266 with a .707 OPS in Indy. Rogers can be a pinch-hit option as well as a double-switch candidate at first and third base. He has just six home runs while hitting .263/.338/.371 in the middle of Indy’s lineup.
The biggest benefit may be to the bullpen, where Schugel has been a consistent contributor for the Pirates at many points this season and provides a multi-inning look. Marte, a 5-foot-9 left-hander, will get his first major-league look in his 10th professional season. The 28-year-old is a bit of a soft tosser, but can also bring some length and has ground-ball tendencies.
Just the addition of a few extra arms will help ease the workload. Felipe Rivero (64.2), Tony Watson (57) and Neftali Feliz (53.1) have all had significant numbers of innings recently.
“I’m all for it,” Hughes said. “It’s more opportunity for these guys to come up and show what they’ve got. … They help. They really contribute to the team and it helps save innings for the back end of the bullpen. Watson, Rivero has thrown a bunch this year, Feliz, Nicasio has a 100 innings.”
COLE ON THE MEND
The Pirates are in the beginnings of a return-to-pitch program for Gerrit Cole, who played catch in Chicago and again on the team’s off day Thursday. They haven’t announced the next step yet for Cole, which could include a rehab start — if he is ready to go before the minor-league seasons end.
STEW APPROVES
Chris Stewart had spent the better part of two months catching the Double-A staff in Altoona, and he’s impressed with the next wave of Pirates’ pitchers.
“They’re good,” he said. “They’re going to make the playoffs. Hopefully, they can get me a ring. They have a good group of guys down there. They work hard. They go about each day like they should. They prepare like they should. There’s a reason they’re in first place right now.”
Stewart singled out Cody Dickson, Tyler Eppler and Clay Holmes as guys that could be in Pittsburgh sooner rather than later.
