Jason Grilli Injury: Updates on Pirates Pitcher's Oblique and Return

Updates from Friday, May 23

The Pirates' official Twitter feed has the latest on Grilli:

Updates from Sunday, May 18

Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provides a statement from Pirates manager Clint Hurdle discussing Jason Grilli's recovery:

"

Grilli, who is on the 15-day DL because of a strained left oblique, threw 20 pitches in one inning.

'Followed the glove very well. I thought the breaking ball shaped up better than last time out, sharper. Threw some changeups. I thought it was a very good step forward for him.'

The Pirates want Grilli to pitch on consecutive days before activating him, Hurdle said, and hope to have him do so when they return to Pittsburgh.

"

Original Text

The Pittsburgh Pirates may have been the surprise playoff team from the National League last season, but they are off to a disappointing 9-14 start in 2014. To make matters worse, they got some injury news on Friday.

The team’s official Twitter page let fans know of the developments regarding pitcher Jason Grilli:

The only silver lining is that Grilli’s trip to the disabled list is retroactive to April 21, so if he is ready to go when his DL stint is over, it will be sooner than had it been enacted 15 days from Friday.

Gene J. Puskar

Much like the Pirates, Grilli has underperformed in the young 2014 season. He does count four saves to his resume this year, but he has also blown three saves and has an ERA of 4.50. To make matters worse, he has given up two home runs in eight innings and has experienced the majority of his success against the lowly Chicago Cubs. His numbers look much worse against the rest of the league.

Stay tuned for more updates as they develop for the Pirates closer.