Pittsburgh Pirates Lineup Moves Forward As Life Without Neil Walker Begins

Pittsburgh Pirates Neil Walker had an MRI done which was ‘clean,’ and he expects to be back as quickly as possible.  Today the Bucs made some interesting roster moves, but none involved their star second baseman.

Chad Qualls was placed on the bereavement list with a family illness.  Yamaico Navarro was called up from Indianapolis where, as we wrote about yesterday, he was performaing well.  Navarro played left field for the Triple-A Indians last night.   Jeff Locke was sent to AAA and Jared Hughes was recalled.

The Pirates announced their lineup a few minutes ago on Twitter.

Jordy Mercer is in the number two spot in the lineup. So looking at the starting infielders batting averages against right handers like the team will face today in Joe Blanton the numbers are less than appealing: Gaby Sanchez is hitting 250, Pedro Alvarez checks in with a 243 average and 18 homers off righties, Barmes is actually hitting 201 that is not a misprint–he has five bombs against righties, and Jordy Mercer is hitting just 179 in limited action.

Looking deeper the overall OPS for the infield checks in like this: Pedro with a .752, Gaby Sanchez has a .687, Mercer just a .594, and the big blow is Barmes with a paltry .555 OPS.

One good thing to consider is the offensive production from the infield is due for a progression. It’s hard to see it getting much worse.

Godspeeed Neil Walker.