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Pirates place Starling Marte on IL with abdominal wall contusion

Starling Marte

Following a scary collision in the outfield during Friday’s game, Pittsburgh Pirates All-Star outfielder Starling Marte is now headed to the 10-day injured list with an abdominal wall contusion.

The Injury: The 30-year-old collided with shortstop Erik Gonzalez during Friday’s game when they both attempted to go for a fly ball. Both players remained down and Marte had to be carted off the field.


The Prognosis: Pittsburgh has to consider itself fortunate that Marte’s injury wasn’t worse.

  • While Marte was carted off the field, Gonzalez is headed for the 60-day injured list with a left clavicle fracture that will keep him out for multiple months.
  • Contusions to the abdominal wall are usually caused by blunt force to the abdominal area, which happened when Gonzalez collided with Marte.
  • The severity of the contusion will likely determine the timetable, though Marte may only miss a few weeks if it is not significant.

The Call-up: In Marte’s absence, Pittsburgh called up top outfield prospect Bryan Reynolds to take Marte’s place on the roster and he should see fairly significant playing time.

  • The 24-year-old is rated as Pittsburgh’s eighth-best prospect by MLB Pipeline and is ranked ninth by Baseball America.
  • In 13 games at Triple-A Indianapolis this season, Reynolds posted a .367/.446/.735 slash line with five home runs and three stolen bases.
  • Reynolds exclusively played center field this season, though he has experience playing both corner outfield spots

The Pirates are still without outfielder Gregory Polanco, who underwent surgery on his shoulder in September. The 27-year-old is nearing the end of his lengthy rehab assignment and could return to the team by the end of April.

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