Jared Triolo to Take Next Step in Rehab, Getting Closer to Return to Pirates
PITTSBURGH — Pirates infielder Jared Triolo made a brief appearance at PNC Park on Monday afternoon.
The 28-year-old is rehabbing a right knee patellar tendon injury and made a pit stop back in Pittsburgh as he rehab assignment is set to transfer from Low-A Bradenton to Double-A Altoona.
Triolo will be in uniform at Peoples Natural Gas Field on Tuesday night when the Curve host the Richmond Flying Squirrels after playing a pair of games with the Marauders over the weekend.
“Everything feels good,” Triolo said. “Defense and swing feel good. Running feels good.”
Triolo was injured during the Pirates home opener against the Baltimore Orioles on April 3. He was placed on the 10-day injured list the following day.
Triolo played in six games with the Pirates prior to getting hurt — five at shortstop and one at third base — and hit .217 (5 for 23) with one double and an RBI. Friday’s game with Bradenton was his first time in a game setting since his injury.
“It was good,” Triolo said on returning to competition in Bradenton. “Just talking with some of those guys down there, they asked me a bunch of questions. Playing baseball is a lot of fun. So I had fun.”
Although most of his time came at short to start the season, Triolo will see the bulk of his time come at his more familiar position of third base once he’s reinstated from the injured list. He manned the hot corner during the home opener in wake of Konnor Griffin’s promotion to the big leagues. Griffin is now the everyday shortstop and will be for a long time.
Nick Gonzales and Nick Yorke have split time at third base since Triolo went down, but the Pirates will have another option who is also capable of playing other positions.
“Everything’s going smooth so far,” said manager Don Kelly. “He’ll continue his rehab tomorrow and then we’ll see what it is. Mentally, that’s a tough thing to overcome, getting one game, he’s over at third and then he gets hurt. But he’s a ball player. He’ll be ready to roll.”
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