Out of race, Pirates to play young players

PITTSBURGH — With the Pirates officially eliminated from the postseason race, expect them to pivot away from a few banged-up regulars with an eye on the future.

The Bucs were mathematically bounced out of the National League Wild Card race late Tuesday night after losing to the Cubs and waking up to find the Giants had beaten the Rockies in San Francisco. Their younger players have seen the field quite a bit over the last two months, so there won’t be many dramatic changes over the final five games.

But expect to see less of shortstop Jordy Mercer, nursing a forearm strain that affects his throwing, and catcher Francisco Cervelli, who hasn’t been playing at full strength since undergoing surgery in June to repair a fractured hamate bone in his left hand.

“We’re going to back away because of the workload he’s carried and what he’s had to play through,” manager Clint Hurdle said of Cervelli. “He’s still not 100 percent; to beat on that left hand much more doesn’t make …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com