Pirates Injury Updates: Alford, Wilson, Howard on Track to Return Soon

Thanks to Ben Cherington’s comments on his regular Sunday afternoon radio show, there have been some updates on the injuries to Pirates outfielder Anthony Alford, and pitchers Bryse Wilson, and Sam Howard.

In terms of Alford, Cherington mentioned that he “has gone through all his baseball progressions.” There should be no hiccups in terms of Alford returning once his IL time is up, which is expected to be next week.

Alford who came over from the Toronto Blues Jays in 2020, has appeared in 16 games for the Pirates this season, batting .146.

Wilson seems to be progressing well on his IL stint. Wilson was placed on the 10-day IL on August 15th due to arm fatigue. Cherington mentioned the training staff and how they addressed his fatigue early on. “We think this means Bryse [Wilson] would come back in relatively short order and start pitching in some games rather than something linger and become a bigger deal than it needs to be.” The 23-year-old pitcher made three starts for the Buccos, going 0-2 with a 4.80 ERA.

Sam Howard is two games of work into his rehab assignment with triple-A Indianapolis according to Cherington. “He’s been doing well, his velocity has been up, and is feeling good. [Howard] shouldn’t be too far away from coming back.”

Howard has appeared in 38 games for the Pirates this season and has a 5.76 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 29 innings.