SARASOTA, Fla. — Left-handed reliever Jarlín García, pulled from the World Baseball Classic on Monday due to left arm tightness, will likely not pitch for several weeks, according to Pirates director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk, a setback that could affect the complexion of the team’s Opening Day roster.
García, 30, is currently unable to grip a baseball, per Tomczyk, but the tests on García’s shoulder and elbow came back clean. Tomczyk said that it is uncommon for a pitcher to be unable to grip a baseball despite their tests coming back clean.
While the Pirates have described García’s injury as “left arm tightness” since he left Saturday’s outing against the Phillies, Tomczyk said the team is working to hone in on a more specific diagnosis. With one, the team can properly determine the severity of García’s injury and curate a timetable for his return.
“That’s something that we’re still learning, and our doctors are still vehemently trying to figure out what happened and how can we help him [find] the best way to move forward to get him to grip a baseball and ultimately throw,” Tomczyk said.
The Pirates have not officially ruled García, who had a 3.74 ERA across 65 innings with the Giants last season, out of the Opening Day picture. Given his status, however, García appears unlikely to be ready for Pittsburgh’s first game on March 30, leaving the Pirates’ brass to brainstorm who fills a vacant bullpen spot.
Jose Hernandez, the 25-year-old who the Pirates selected from the Dodgers in the Rule 5 Draft, is the only left-handed reliever on the 40-man roster. That said, the Pirates don’t have a shortage of southpaws in camp. Along with Hernandez, Angel Perdomo, Caleb Smith, Daniel Zamora and Rob Zastryzny — Zastryzny will be pitching for Team Canada in the World Baseball Classic — are in camp as well.
“I think the one thing that we did identify this offseason, even with García, is we wanted to get left-handed depth — and we have it,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Even though it’s non-roster depth, it is depth with guys that are in competition. It’s not like there’s just one guy. It’s not like it’s just [Jose] Hernandez who’s on the [40-man] roster. We have other people that are in competition for spots in our bullpen. I feel like we’re covered pretty well.”
Hernandez, who allowed four runs (three earned) on Wednesday, is arguably the most intriguing of Pittsburgh’s current left-handed…
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