Harrison confident injured thumb is healed
Josh Harrison had just one hit in 19 at bats on his rehab assignment at Class AAA Indianapolis.
However, his .053 batting average was of no concern to the infielder/outfielder. He was confident his injured left thumb had healed.
Thus, the Pirate activated Harrison from the 15-day disabled list Friday night prior to their 6-4 loss the San Francisco Giants. Harrison played second base and batted leadoff, going 0-for-2 and getting hit by a pitch before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning.
“In the first couple of at bats, you’re thinking about how it’s going to feel with the vibration, how’s it going to feel if I’m jammed,” Harrison said of his rehab assignment. “It felt like it normally would have. If you caught the ball in the middle of your palm, it hurt like it did before. It was a positive experience for me.”
Primarily the Pirates’ third baseman before being injured, Harrison started at second base for just sidelined the 13th time this season.
Neil Walker sat out against Giants left-hander Bumgarner – though he hit a sacrifice fly off him in the seventh inning as a pinch hitter — continuing Hurdle’s trend of keeping the switch-hitting second baseman away from lefties.
Walker is hitting just .240 with no home runs in 75 at-bats against lefties this season compared to a .274 average and 13 homers in 351 at-bats against righties.
Hurdle would not commit to Harrison playing any one position on a regular basis but wants him in the lineup on a regular basis.
“He brings a spark to our lineup and his glove plays anywhere,” Hurdle said.
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Hurdle has been credited with creating a culture in which the Pirates have learned how to win during his five seasons as manager.
Indeed, coming into the weekend, the Pirates had a 26-15 record in one-run games this season and were 10-7 in extra innings.
The Pirates have had good records in tight games since Hurdle took over in 2011, going 135-118 in one-run games and 37-32 in extra innings. That works out to winning percentages of .534 and .536.
For comparison’s sake, during the previous five seasons from 2006-10, the Pirates were 94-120 in one-run games and 31-37 in extra innings for winning percentages of .439 and .456.
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Pedro Alvarez hit the 1,000th home run by a Pirates player at PNC Park on Monday night when he connected off the Diamondbacks’ Jeremy Hellickson.
Who hit the Pirates’ 1,000th homer at their previous home, Three Rivers Stadium?
Johnny Ray on Aug. 11, 1987 off the Cardinals’ John Tudor.