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Jarlin Garcia and Termarr Johnson Injury Updates

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The Pirates announced a few injury updates this afternoon, with Jarlin Garcia and Termarr Johnson likely out for the start of the season. The updates from Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk come via Justice delos Santos and Jason Mackey.

The big news regarding the MLB roster is that Garcia will need several weeks before he can throw.

It’s almost a certainty that Garcia will begin the season on the injured list, which makes the left-handed relief spot uncertain. Garcia was signed to give the Pirates a lefty out of the bullpen. They’ve added several other options and you can bet that the Pirates will bring at least one of them north at the end of the month.

Jose Hernandez, the hard-thrower taken in the Rule 5 draft, seems to have an inside track for a roster spot with his status. The Pirates have also added Angel Perdomo, Daniel Zamora, Rob Zastryzny, and Caleb Smith on minor league deals. They’ve been giving all of these pitchers a good look early. Zamora has pitched four innings. Hernandez, Perdomo, and Zastryzny have each pitched three innings. Smith, who was signed at the start of camp, has already pitched two innings.

Hernandez has shown some promise, but I would imagine the Pirates would want an additional left-hander, as he only has 38.2 innings above A-ball. I would expect the other four to battle for the spot that has been vacated by Garcia.

In another injury update, Termarr Johnson will miss at least six weeks with his hamstring injury, from the original date.

Johnson injured his hamstring two weeks ago in the early part of camp. This timeline means that he will be out for at least another month.

I’m not sure if Johnson will be heading to Bradenton or Greensboro this season, but those seasons don’t begin for another month. This seems like it will delay the start of his season at this point. I would consider a four month season for Johnson, ending with good progress in High-A, to be a positive from this stage.

Tim Williams
Tim Williams
Tim is the owner, producer, editor, and lead writer of PiratesProspects.com. He has been running Pirates Prospects since 2009, becoming the first new media reporter and outlet covering the Pirates at the MLB level in 2011 and 2012. His work can also be found in Baseball America, where he has been a contributor since 2014 and the Pirates' correspondent since 2019.

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