With Bryse Wilson's season ended by injury, the Pirates start search for starting pitchers

The Pittsburgh Pirates couldn’t afford to lose another starting pitcher to a season-ending injury, so their decision to transfer right-hander Bryse Wilson to the 60-day injured list Monday was a big blow to the rotation.

That the Pirates did so to make room on the 40-man roster for another catcher was a double whammy, one necessitated by Jacob Stallings heading to the seven-day concussion IL.

With the Pirates (56-94) closing in on 100 losses, their focus is on finishing the season as healthy as possible. The risk of returning outweighs the reward, so the Pirates aren’t taking any chances.

Stallings, 31, is a Gold Glove candidate, the team’s longest-tenured player and a clubhouse leader who was their nominee for the Roberto Clemente Award. Stallings was slashing .240/.329/.366 with 20 doubles and ranked second on the team in home runs (eight) and RBIs (53) in 109 games this season.

Shelton said Stallings was experiencing lingering headaches after the weekend series in Miami, when the was hit by a backswing on Friday night and a foul ball on Sunday. Stallings ended the 2020 season on the concussion IL, so the Pirates erred on the side of caution — especially after Francisco Cervelli’s concussion history forced an early retirement.

“The effects would not go away, so we started talking about it (Monday), the fact that he was having some dizziness and having some headaches moving his head side to side,” Shelton said. “We’ve got to be safe with something like that.”

To replace Stallings, the Pirates selected the contract of 31-year-old catcher Taylor Davis from Triple-A Indianapolis. Davis, acquired from Baltimore on July 15, has 20 games of major league experience over three years with the Chicago Cubs, and was batting .241/.338/.319 with two homers and 17 RBIs in 38 games for Indianapolis. He threw out 12 of 34 runners attempting to steal, and is familiar with some of the pitchers who have been promoted to the Pirates from Triple-A.

“With Taylor, he’d done a nice job in Indy calling the game catching and receiving,” Shelton said. “He’s played in the big leagues before, so it’s an opportunity for him to come up here and help us out. … He has that ability to execute game plans.”

Finding someone to fill in on the starting rotation will be more of a challenge. Wilson is the fourth Pirates starter to suffer a season-ending injury, joining Steven Brault, Trevor Cahill and Chase DeJong on the 60-day IL. JT Brubaker (right shoulder) is eligible to come off the 10-day IL but the Pirates are being careful with the right-hander.

That leaves lefty Dillon Peters, who started in Monday’s 9-5 loss to the Cincinnati Reds, and righties Mitch Keller and Wil Crowe. Connor Overton made a bullpen start, pitching three scoreless innings in a 1-0 loss to the Reds on Sept. 16. And Max Kranick pitched five innings in a spot start in Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Marlins.

“As we’ve talked about with this group the whole season but especially the last month, it’s just going to get guys opportunities,” Shelton said. “We’re going to have to get creative in terms of how we cover innings and that’s something we’re going to have to figure out through the rest of this road trip. We’ll have the off day and go from there but guys are going to get an opportunity to get some innings.”

One option could be Chad Kuhl, who made 84 career starts before being moved to the bullpen in late August. Shelton, however, said that “as of now, we have not talked about that.” Another possibility out of the ‘pen is Cody Ponce, who has started five games over the past two seasons.

“We’re gonna grind out the rest of the season,” Peters said, “and, hopefully, get into the offseason healthy.”