Josh VanMeter’s fractured finger has Pirates experimenting with padding
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The first thing Todd Tomczyk wanted to know when he saw the fractured ring fielder on Josh VanMeter’s hand was who threw the ball and what the velocity was.
The Pittsburgh Pirates director of sports medicine was amazed at the damage the throw — believed to be from third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes in a 5-4-3 double play in the fourth inning at the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 1 — did to VanMeter’s gloved hand.
“I’ve never seen a player break their finger where he broke it in the glove, wearing a glove,” Tomczyk said. “I’ve seen ‘em all the time when they dive. This is catching a ball and the velocity of the ball. … I’d love to get the velocity on that ball that he caught. In 25 years, I’ve never seen that.”
Tomczyk said the Pirates are experimenting with padding — a “really, really odd mechanism, truthfully” — inside VanMeter’s glove and on his bat to make the infielder comfortable enough to play when his stint on the 10-day injured list ends.
Tomczyk provided his weekly team medical update, and the most significant setbacks were a starting pitcher needing Tommy John surgery and an outfielder recovering from a hamstring injury strained the other.
Tomczyk said pitcher Max Kranick underwent surgery last week to repair the UCL in his right elbow and will be out 14 to 16 months. Kranick was shut down during the offseason with forearm soreness and reaggravated the injury after pitching in two games for the Pirates, allowing three runs in five innings.
“We’re always, in the back of our minds, when any position player or pitcher injures their forearm or elbow that it could end up here, but we were optimistic at the point,” Tomczyk said. “He actually did return to full Major League competition. Re-injuries do happen, new injuries do happen to similar body parts.
“Max went through the full gamut. He worked his tail off to get back into Major League competition, which he did. He was successful. Just bothered him again. We took a deeper dive with the collaboration of our own physicians and others, and this was the end result to make sure he has a prolonged career.”
Tomczyk said outfielder Greg Allen, claimed off waivers last fall, strained his right hamstring last week while recovering from a left hamstring strain suffered at the end of spring training. Allen is doing his rehabilitation at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla., and was eligible to come off the 60-day injured list on Monday.
In other Pirates injury updates:
Lefty reliever Dillon Peters, who was placed on the 15-day IL on Tuesday with a lumbar muscle strain, has not resumed throwing activities. The goal is for him to begin throwing this weekend or early next week.
Righty reliever Heath Hembree is slated to start a rehab assignment Wednesday with Triple-A Indianapolis, which is expected to involve multiple outings and back-to-back games. Righty reliever Nick Mears also is on a rehab assignment with Indianapolis.
Right-hander Blake Cederlind, recovering from Tommy John surgery, has resumed playing catch, and the Pirates envision him progressing to throwing from 90 feet by the end of the week.
In the outfield, Ben Gamel (left hamstring) is expected to begin running next week, and Jake Marisnick is testing his pain tolerance with catching the ball and gripping the bat after having surgery on his left thumb.
First baseman Yoshi Tsutsugo (lumbar muscle strain) has resumed light baseball activities but will remain in Pittsburgh to work with the therapy team while the Pirates are on the road.
After injuring his hamstring while rehabilitating a groin injury, shortstop Kevin Newman is “pain-free with all baseball activities” and is building up his conditioning.
“We’re very optimistic at this time with the adjustments that the team made, he will be ready to have Derek (Shelton) and the team make a decision when the first going off that 60-day is later this month,” Tomczyk said. “Very optimistic with him.”