Pirates injury updates: Steven Brault set to rejoin team soon

Jun. 30—Pitcher Steven Brault is expected to rejoin the Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend, team director or sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday.

The veteran left-hander has been on the 60-day injured list since before the season began because of a left lat strain.

In a video conference call with media, Tomczyk said Brault was to travel to Pittsburgh after throwing a two-inning simulated game at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., on Wednesday.

"So, very exciting for Steven, very exciting for us," Tomczyk said. "We'll see how he comes out of that two-inning sim game. We're excited for our team to get our hands on him. We haven't seen him since spring training. And map out the next steps once we get some real, live reps with him."

Brault, 29, last season won the Steve Blass Award for the team's best pitcher. Tomczyk could not project a precise date for Brault to make his 2021 Pirates debut.

"To say here right now we have a projected date for when Steven Brault returns to major-league activity, no we don't," he said. "But we're very encouraged by this progress in his rehab and those conversations are ongoing."

Other Pirates injury updates from Tomczyk on Wednesday:

—First baseman Colin Moran is "still day-to-day." He was hit by a pitch in his left wrist Monday and was not in the lineup for games Tuesday or Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies. "He's improving," Tomczyk said.

—Veteran starter Trevor Cahill "has made some progress" in returning from a left calf injury. Cahill has resumed running activities.

—Young right-handers Jose Soriano and Blake Cederlind are in the early stages of rehab from Tommy John surgery. Cederlind is two months in and Soriano two weeks. Tomczyk had positive reports on each.

—Rookie right-hander Luis Oviedo (left quad) threw a one-inning simulated game Tuesday in Denver. "He did respond well to that workload initially," Tomczyk said. "We're going to get him back to Pittsburgh and continue to map out his progression from there."

—Another young right-hander who's pitched some (two games) for the Pirates this season, Miguel Yajure, is working out at Pirate City in recovery from elbow discomfort. "We envision him progressing out to (throwing) about 110-120 feet by the week's end," Tomczyk said.

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Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris by email at cadamski@triblive.com or via Twitter .