Jordy Mercer Injury Update

The Pittsburgh Pirates finally gave us a Jordy Mercer injury update this afternoon, and the fallout has caused a ripple affect of roster moves. First, the Pirates announced that Jordy suffered a lower leg contusion and a sprained MCL. This will likely mean about six weeks to recover.

Jordy Mercer Update: Jordy has been diagnosed with a lower leg contusion and a sprain of the medial collateral ligament of his left knee.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 20, 2015

Jordy Mercer heads to DL with lower leg contusion and MCL sprain. Out approx. 6 weeks.
— Stephen J. Nesbitt (@stephenjnesbitt) July 20, 2015

Jordy has been placed on the 15 Day Disabled List. The Pittsburgh Pirates will bring up Brent Morel today. Corey Hart has been moved to the 60 day Disabled List to make room for Morel on the 40-Man Roster.

We have selected the contract of INF Brent Morel from Triple-A Indy and placed Corey Hart on the 60-Day DL.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) July 20, 2015

Let’s take a quick look at how Brent Morel is doing this season at Triple-A Indianapolis. His slash line is currently .266/.322/.441 with an OPS of .763. Morel is currently in the midst of an eight game hit streak that began on July 6th. He previously had an eleven game hit streak that ended on July 5th. He leads the Indianapolis Indians in several stat categories. These include his nine home runs, forty-seven RBIs, twenty one doubles and sixty-seven strikeouts. Morel trails only Alen Hanson in total at bats, runs, and hits.

Many fans will scream “Why isn’t Alen Hanson getting called up?” and “Why are we letting Hanson just sit at Indy?” The key thing to remember here is that due to some defensive woes Alen Hanson has been moved from shortstop. Hanson has only been playing second base while at Triple-A Indianapolis this season. This is the main reason you don’t see Hanson getting the call. If it had been Neil Walker going down, then Hanson would have been the obvious choice for the call up.

Is Brent Morel the answer at third? I think we can all agree the answer to this is No! Given the current situation, Jung Ho Kang moving to shortstop and Josh Harrison on the Disabled List, Morel is the only option other than Sean Rodriguez that we have to fill in for a few days.

Jordy Mercer‘s injury could take six weeks to recover. Third base is a glaring hole that will need filled possibly by a trade. Keep an eye out here on Rumbunter for our Twelve Days of Trademas. One of our elves tell me you may be reading about a possible third baseman trade option in the near future.

Next: Pirates Minor League Report - July 20th

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