After losing shortstop Jordy Mercer to a left leg injury during Sunday’s loss to the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates plan to purchase the contract of third baseman Brent Morel from their Triple-A affiliate, the Indianapolis Indians, according to a report by Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Morel had been a late scratch from the Indianapolis lineup on Sunday night.
Brent Morel is indeed joining the Pirates, according to his agent.
— Bill Brink (@BrinkPG) July 20, 2015
On Sunday in Milwaukee, Mercer had his legs taken out by Brewers outfielder Carlos Gomez in a collision in the basepath. Gomez was attempting to advance to second base on a ground ball hit to Mercer, who was playing on the first-base side of the bag due to an infield shift. Mercer attempted to tag Gomez instead of going back to second base. Gomez slid in an apparent attempt to prevent Mercer from being able to turn a double play, and Mercer’s left leg awkwardly bent backwards when the players collided.
Carlos Gomez takes out Jordy Mercer pic.twitter.com/wUgqHB5Ye4
— Forbes to Federal (@ForbesToFederal) July 19, 2015
Mercer was flown back to Pittsburgh for further evaluation and no update on his prognosis has been given at this time. Jung Ho Kang moved to shortstop to replace Mercer on Sunday and is expected to the starter while Mercer is out. Utilityman Sean Rodriguez replaced Kang at third base.
Starting third baseman Josh Harrison has also been sidelined with an injury to his left thumb and is expected to be out until mid-August.
Morel, 28, is in his second season in the Pirates organization. In 81 games so far with Indianapolis, he is batting .266 and leads the Indians with 47 RBIs, 21 doubles and 9 home runs.
In 2014, Morel played in 23 games for the Pirates, batting .179 with 2 doubles and 4 RBIs. The Pirates claimed Morel off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays in February of 2014. Morel had previously played 194 games for the Chicago White Sox between 2010 and 2013, batting .229.
The Pirates will need to clear spaces on their 25-man and 40-man rosters in order to call up Morel. The Pirates are scheduled to play the Kansas City Royals tonight at 8:10 p.m.
Photo credit: MLB.com
