At the end of Saturday's 6-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves, Pittsburgh Pirates' fans held their breath as second baseman Brandon Lowe was forced out of the game with what looked like a significant injury.
Lowe left the game in the middle of his ninth-inning at-bat after fouling a pitch off his right knee. The Pirates did not have an update on his status immediately after the game, but general manager Ben Cherington was able to clear the air on Sunday, telling 93.7 The Fan that Lowe avoided a fracture in his knee.
“Tests last night were negative for any sort of fracture," Cherington said as relayed by Kevin Gorman. "He got hit pretty good. He’s pretty sore. Right now, we’re looking at this as a day-to-day thing.”
It is fantastic news considering how things looked yesterday. Lowe, who has been Pittsburgh's best hitter this year with a .848 OPS, went down in a heap after the injury and struggled to get to his feet before he had to be helped off the field.
In addition to the update from Cherington, Lowe was seen working out on the field Sunday ahead of the Pirates' series finale at Truist Park in Atlanta. The 31-year-old infielder looked comfortable as he shuffled across the outfield grass.
Lowe is slashing .249/.333/.515, leading the Pirates in home runs (15), and is not a player they can afford to miss. It seems the club has dodged a bullet with this situation, though they will likely still have to prepare for him to miss a few games.
In preparation of that, the Pirates made a series of moves to get an additional infielder in the mix.
When veteran outfielder Ryan O'Hearn went down with a leg injury in mid-May, top prospect Jhostynxon Garcia became the beneficiary of an early season call-up. Now, just a few weeks later, Garcia is the odd man out, getting sent back down to Triple-A for infielder Davis Wendzel to join the 26-man roster.
Wendzel has been solid in Triple-A this year after signing a minor league contract in December, batting .246/.360/.491 with nine home runs. To clear a spot for him on the 40-man, the Pirates moved Chris Devenski from the 15-day IL to the 60-day IL.
Garcia was originally called up on May 19th and made a strong first impression, batting .313 and getting a hit in each of his first four games. But the 23-year-old cooled off after that, going just two for his next 19 at-bats and posting a lackluster .200/.243/.229 slash line in his 13 games.
The young outfielder will benefit from the increased playing time in Triple-A, and given the uncertain status of Lowe's injury, having an extra infielder in Wendzel is the right move. But the most important takeaway remains the health of Lowe and the increasing hope that he will avoid a trip to the injured list.
