PITTSBURGH — Charlie Morton readily admits his first two-plus weeks with the Pirates has been a study in frustration.
The right-hander has been able to start just twice because of a strained right hamstring since being recalled from Class AAA Indianapolis on June 11.
“It’s been tough because I’m with a new team and I’m real anxious to help out and show everybody what I can do,” said Morton, one of three minor-leaguers acquired from Atlanta in a June 3 trade for All-Star center fielder Nate McLouth.
Instead, Morton has been limited to six innings while fighting the leg issue.
However, he threw
20 pitches in the bullpen without pain before Friday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals at PNC Park.
Thus, barring any last-minute setback, Morton will start the finale of the three-game interleague series on Sunday.
“I feel really good and I can’t wait to get out there again,” Morton said.
Pirates manager John Russell is looking forward to seeing Morton pitch again. Morton allowed two runs in five innings at Colorado last Saturday after pitching only one scoreless inning in his debut against the Braves in Atlanta on July 10.
“The Rockies are the hottest team in baseball and he was impressive against them,” Russell said. “I really liked what I saw. His stuff is electric. He has the chance to have three above-average pitches.”
Russell also appreciates that Morton has become impatient about getting back on the mound.
“He wants to be out there in the worst way and that’s a good thing because you want guys who want to play,” Russell said.
“We’ve had to be patient with him because the last thing you want to do is to have him hurt himself because he was pitching before he was ready.”
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Doumit update: Catcher Ryan Doumit is tentatively set to begin an injury rehabilitation assignment with Class AAA Indianapolis next Saturday. He has been on the disabled list since April 20 with a broken right wrist.
Doumit will report to the Pirates’ spring training facility in Bradenton, Fla., on Tuesday to begin preparing to play in games.
The Pirates, though, have yet to determine how low Doumit will stay with Indianapolis.
It seems most likely he would return to the active roster for the July 17 game against San Francisco at PNC Park, the first game following the All-Star break.
•••
McCutchen update: Rookie center fielder Andrew McCutchen had 30 hits in his first 20 major-league games going into Friday.
He is the first player to make his major-league debut with the Pirates and have at least 30 hits in his first 20 games since Bob Elliott had
31 hits in 1939.
•••
Heritage update: As part of their salute to the Negro Leagues, the Pirates and Royals both wore throwback uniforms Friday night and will do so again tonight.
The Pirates wore replicas of the Homestead Grays’ uniforms and the Royals wore the uniforms of the Kansas City Monarchs.
•••
Up next: Left-hander Paul Maholm (4-4, 4.38) will pitch for the Pirates at 7:05 tonight against Bruce Chen, who will be called up from Class AAA Omaha, in the middle game of the series.
Maholm has lost four of his last five starts.
Chen, who was 4-2 with a
3.40 ERA in 14 games for Omaha, will be pitching for his 10th major-league team and making his first big-league appearance since 2007 with Texas.
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