Pirates place Gregory Polanco, Phillip Evans on IL, recall Rodolfo Castro, Cole Tucker from minors

Jul. 6—As injuries continue to take their toll on the Pittsburgh Pirates, they responded to the lastest roster moves by promoting from within.

The Pirates placed right fielder Gregory Polanco on the 10-day injured list and corner infielder/outfielder Phillip Evans on the seven-day concussion IL Tuesday and recalled infielders Rodolfo Castro and Cole Tucker from the minor leagues.

Polanco hasn't started in right field since June 29, serving strictly as a pinch hitter while dealing with a bilateral adductor strain. He drew a walk in Monday's 11-1 win over the Atlanta Braves, but Pirates manager Derek Shelton said Polanco had trouble running from second to third on a Ke'Bryan Hayes single.

"He could hit. He was just having trouble running," Shelton said. "The ball that was hit. He was scuffling to move. We just felt it was better to get him out and get him healthy."

Evans was injured while sliding into third base in the third inning of Monday's 11-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. The Pirates also are missing first baseman Colin Moran (fractured hand), super utility player Erik Gonzalez (right oblique strain) and outfielder Ka'ai Tom (low back strain).

Castro, 22, made his major league debut with the Pirates in the second game of a doubleheader April 21, going hitless in three at bats. He was batting .306/.349/.549 with 12 doubles, a triple, 11 home runs and 40 RBIs in 49 games at Double-A Altoona this season, ranking fourth in the Northeast League in hits (59), doubles and RBIs, second in total bases (106) and tied for seventh in home runs. In June, Castro hit .363 (33 for 91) with seven doubles, seven homers, 26 RBIs and a 1.054 OPS.

"He's had an unbelievable first half," Shelton said. "Continues to get better. Continues to have good at-bats from both sides of the plate. It's a credit to him. It's a guy who started this year in the big leagues with us for a short period of time, then has gone down and has really done a nice job. Very happy with the start he's off to."

Following spring training, Tucker spent extended time at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., to work on his offense. He is batting .214/.333/.357 with six doubles, two triples, two homers and 10 RBIs in 30 games.

"The reports I've got on Cole is that he continues to improve," Shelton said. "The defense has been better. His at-bats have been better over the last few days. Definitely encouraging signs. Still things that we're working on, but encouraging signs."

Shelton values the versatility of Castro and Tucker, and didn't rule out the possibility of both playing multiple positions. Castro started 32 games at third base and 17 at second for Altoona, and Tucker started 19 games in center field and nine in right for the Pirates last season, when he batted .220 in 37 games.

Shelton said Jared Oliva will start in right field on Tuesday night but there could be a revolving door at the position.

"You could see a bunch of people run out there in the next six days," Shelton said. "To say that we know exactly what we're going to do, no. We have a ton of versatility now with the two guys that we've brought up."

Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin by email at kgorman@triblive.com or via Twitter .