June 21, 2012; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez (24) is greeted at home plate by catcher Rod Barajas (26) after Alvarez hit a solo home run against the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning of an interleague game at PNC Park. The Pittsburgh Pirates won 9-1. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-US PRESSWIRE

The one thing the Pittsburgh Pirates roster can’t afford is injuries.  No team in MLB can afford it, but a team like the Bucs would be in dire straits if a key player were to be down for an extended period of time.

Rod Barajas has been a key cog to the Pirates surge this season, but he left the series opener with the Philadelphia Phillies with a bone bruise in his left knee.

The X-Rays came back negative and the Bucs said he was day-to-day.

This afternoon, the Pirates announced Eric Fryer has been selected from AAA Indianapolis and infielder Matt Hague has been optioned back down to Indy.  Fryer started off the season hot, but has been in quite a slump the rest of the way as his batting average is well below .200.

The Bucs made room for Drew Sutton on the 25-man roster by optioning lefty Doug Slaten to AAA.

The injury occurred on a play at the plate.  Barajas said the outside of his knee is sore.    This is his quote from Pirates.com

“When [Rollins] slid by, I put my foot out there, and he caught the bottom of my foot,” said Barajas, who is hitting .224 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs. “I’m assuming he maybe jarred it a little bit, just pushed that knee back. I didn’t hear a pop or anything. Kind of a fluke thing.”

Let’s trust there aren’t anymore flukes in the future for the Bucs.  It is really easy to see that a key injury would cripple this club.

Bye Bye Ryota

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