Jared

Triolo

Fans tuning in to MLB Sunday Leadoff on Peacock will miss out on seeing one of the most exciting rookies in the game as the 20-year-old shortstop is getting a breather in this one. Jared Triolo will start in his place at shortstop and will bat ninth for the Bucs against Blue Jays’ right-hander Dylan Cease on Sunday afternoon in Toronto.

It’s the second-straight absence for Gonzales, who appears to be losing out to Jared Triolo of late. He’s hit .315/.380/.364 in 36 games started, including .333/.393/.382 against right-handers, so we’re a little surprised the Pirates have pulled back on him even if he’s no power hitter.

Horwitz has been tearing the cover off the ball recently, hitting .364 (8-for-22) with six RBI and more walks (five) than strikeouts (three) over his last seven games. The 28-year-old lacks the requisite power production to be a viable mixed-league fantasy starter, but he’s doing enough from a batting average standpoint to be a corner infield option in deeper leagues. It’ll be Jared Triolo at the cold corner on Wednesday night in his place.

It’s a routine off day for Lowe with southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez toeing the rubber for Arizona in this one. Nick Gonzales takes over at second base with Jared Triolo getting into the lineup at the hot corner. The other notable trickle-down effect here is top prospect Konnor Griffin bumping up to the sixth spot in the order, the highest he’s batted since arriving in the majors last month.

Triolo returns to Pittsburgh’s infield mix after missing nearly one month following right knee surgery. A couple things changed during his absence, most notably the top prospect in baseball, Konnor Griffin, taking over as the club’s starting shortstop in addition to signing a long-term contract extension. That qualifies as a notable development. Triolo will most likely function in a bench role, filling in occasionally across the infield dirt when needed.

He should run the bases next week in Florida. It’s hard to tell exactly how bad Triolo’s injury is from the outside, but it sounds like he’s at least a few weeks from being a candidate to be activated. Assuming everything goes right in his rehab, that is.

Triolo sustained the injury during Saturday’s game. While the severity of the injury is not yet known, it sure sounds like Triolo will be shelved for a while. Billy Cook was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to take his place on the Pirates’ active roster.

Nick Gonzales had started all six games coming into this one and is off to a nice start offensively (.333/.357/.407 in 28 PA), but he was on the bench in favor of Triolo at third with Konnor Griffin installed at short. It turned out to be a good choice, too. Still, the Pirates could do a bit of an offense/defense platoon with the two depending on who they have on the mound. Triolo is a Gold Glove-quality defender at third, but he doesn’t offer much upside with the bat.

Cruz will be in the lineup against a left-hander for the first time since August of last year. The 27-year-old will hit against Brandon Williamson near the bottom of the lineup. Jared Triolo is out of the lineup with Nick Gonzales lining up at shortstop and Nick York at the hot corner.

The 28-year-old infielder smacked a one-out triple off of Jose Suarez in the second inning and scored the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Nick Yorke. That would be the extent of the Bucs’ offense. For the spring, Triolo has hit a solid .270 (10-for-37) with zero homers, four RBI and one stolen base in 41 plate appearances.