As the bullpen continued to recover from a doubleheader Tuesday and a 4u2154-inning outing Thursday by Jeff Locke at Coors Field in Denver, the Pirates made Juan Nicasio available for bullpen duty Friday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Nicasio will still start Tuesday against the Mets in New York. He had planned to throw his between-starts bullpen session Friday. The Pirates considered sending other starters to the bullpen for a day, but the scheduling of side sessions complicated matters.
“Sometimes during the flux part of the season, in June or July, some guys will pitch [their bullpen session] the second day after they start, some guys will push it back and take that third day,” manager Clint Hurdle said.