SAN DIEGO -- Chad Kuhl was shut down, Max Moroff was brought up, and Nick Kingham's next in line.
The Pirates made the first two moves Friday afternoon, most importantly placing Kuhl on the 10-day disabled list with what the team described as a "right forearm strain." The listing was made retroactive to Wednesday, the day after he was removed following a four-inning start in New York. Clint Hurdle said the team's doctors want to take a few days to monitor the matter, adding, "It's one step at a time."
I'll add here that, based on my experience in covering this team's management over its full decade in charge, the term "forearm" has often been used in place of mentioning the elbow for fear of alarming anyone.
Kuhl's next turn to pitch would have been Monday in Los Angeles, and it's a virtual certainty that Kingham will be recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis to start either that night or the next, depending on whether Hurdle elects to shuffle the order. Kingham's most recent start for Indianapolis was this past Monday, 5 2/3 innings with two runs, three hits and nine strikeouts.
Moroff was recalled, again as a virtual certainty, just to offer Hurdle a backup shortstop for the weekend should Jordy Mercer go down. Moroff's 159 big-league at-bats, all in the past two seasons, have produced a paltry .201/.289/.340 line, and he's struck out 40.2 percent of the time, so he sure isn't up for his offense. With Indianapolis this season, he was at .258/.348/.455.
