Ji Man Choi has landed on the injured list and the Pittsburgh Pirates have recalled Tucupita Marcano to replace him on the active roster
The early season injury bug continues to hit the Pittsburgh Pirates. JT Brubaker has undergone Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire season, Oneil Cruz is out until at least August with a fractured ankle, Jarlín García is shelved until future notice, Chase De Jong is currently on the injured list, and both Austin Hedges and Robert Stephenson have already spent time on the IL this season.
On Saturday, the Pittsburgh Pirates had another player land on the IL. This time, first baseman/designated hitter Ji Man Choi has hit the 10-day IL. To replace Choi on the 26-man roster, the Pirates have recalled Tucupita Marcano from Triple-A.
Choi's IL stint, which is retroactive to April 13th, is due to a strain of his left Achilles tendon. It remains to be seen how much time Choi will miss with this injury.
Overall this season Choi had struggled hitting for a .125/.125/.344 slash line with a wRC+ of 12 and an OPS+ of 21 in 32 plate appearnaces. However, in the past few days he appeared to be fidning his stroke at the plate after hitting home runs in back-to-back games agains the Houston Astros earlier in the week.
As for Marcano, even without an injury opening the door he appeared to be well on his way to earning a promotion back to the majors. The left-handed hitting super utility man was off to a scorching start at Triple-A. In 11 games played for Indianapolis this season, Marcano hit for a .422/.458/.689 slash line with a 194 wRC+ in 48 PAs. He walked at a 6.3% clip, struck out at just a 16.7% rate, hit 7 doubles, a triple, and a home run.