CINCINNATI _ With catcher Francisco Cervelli still suffering from a nagging foot injury, the Pirates promoted catching prospect Elias Diaz from Triple-A Indianapolis on Monday. He joined the Pirates at Great American Ball Park and will back up Chris Stewart in the series opener against the Reds.
Cervelli has been dealing with the same discomfort on the bottom of his right foot since early in spring training. There are good days and bad days, he said, and Sunday was a particularly bad day. The Pirates were unable to fly Diaz from Scranton, Pa., to Miami in time for their afternoon game against the Miami Marlins, so they recalled Class High-A Bradenton catcher John Bormann.
On Monday, Bormann was optioned back to Bradenton.
The Pirates did not place Cervelli on the disabled list. He said such a move is not necessary _ "not going to happen," he insisted _ and guessed he will be able to play within a couple days. Asked whether it would be wise to take off 10 days to reach 100 percent, Cervelli shook his head.
"No," he said. "In the offseason I'll take a week off. Not now. ... It's not the first time I've been hurt. My brain is the one who runs everything. If you think negative, it's not going to happen."
Diaz, 26, has a .305 average in 15 games for Indianapolis this season. The Pirates' No. 3 option at catcher, he was injured much of last season and was not available when Stewart and Cervelli were injured, forcing them to instead use Jacob Stallings, Erik Kratz and Eric Fryer.
Manager Clint Hurdle said Diaz's availability, as well as his experience each of the Pirates starters either in the minor leagues or in spring training, are big benefits. Should Cervelli's injury demand a trip to the disabled list, Diaz, not Stewart, likely would start most games in his absence.
"Diaz is going to provide us a transition guy we can count on that knows our staff, knows most of the guys, has put in time and will be ready to provide some service for us here," Hurdle said. "I'm not so sure what degree we need to push Stewart right now, early in the season."
