A trio of Pittsburgh Pirates will be away from the team for at least a portion, if not the entire 2020 regular season.
Per Alex Stumpf of DK Pittsburgh Sports on Friday, right fielder Gregory Polanco tested positive for COVID-19 and will be sidelined indefinitely as a result.
In just 153 at-bats in 2019, Polanco batted to a .242 mark with six home runs and 17 runs batted in. He missed the second half of the season with posterior left shoulder inflammation.
In a very successful 2018 campaign, Polanco hit .254 with 23 home runs and 81 runs batted in before a devastating slide into second base on September 8 resulted in a dislocated left shoulder, which delayed his 2019 debut until April 22.
Stumpf also reported that relief pitcher Keone Kela was placed on the injured list on Thursday, without the team disclosing a reason.
Kela was acquired from the Texas Rangers at the 2018 Trade Deadline. In 15.1 innings of work, Kela struck out 22 batters and posted a 2.93 earned run average.
Kela's time was again limited in 2019, but he was effective. In 29.2 innings, he pitched to a 2.12 earned run average, while punching out 33 hitters.
Following last September's Felipe Vazquez incident, Kela was named the team's new closer in February by manager Derek Shelton. This role will likely now be filled by Kyle Crick and/or Richard Rodriguez until Kela rejoins the team.
In a press release on Saturday, the team announced that catcher Luke Maile had surgery on a broken right index finger, which will sideline him for approximately 10-12 weeks, effectively ending his Pirates career before it began.
Maile signed with the Pirates this past December. In his 2019 campaign with the Toronto Blue Jays, Maile batted a miserable .151 with two home runs and nine runs batted in, but was applauded for his defensive work behind the plate.
Maile was all but guaranteed to be the backup to Jacob Stallings. That title will now likely fall into the arms of John Ryan Murphy.
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