Pirates manager Clint Hurdle says Josh Harrison‘s recent injury could lead to the Bucs being “aggressive with early opportunity to add” this month, MLB.com’s Tom Singer tweets. Harrison is set to miss seven weeks with a torn UCL in his thumb. Since Harrison could return by the end of August, acquiring offensive help earlier, rather than at the deadline the end of the month, would perhaps best help the Pirates best compensate for his absence.
The Bucs have a capable replacement in Jung-Ho Kang taking over for Harrison at third base, but the loss of the versatile Kang leaves the Pirates with an underwhelming bench of Chris Stewart, Sean Rodriguez, Steve Lombardozzi, Gorkys Hernandez and Travis Ishikawa.