Weekend Notes: Polanco, Underwood Back; Injury Report; Signings & Stuff

 And now let the draft signings & trade rumors fly:

Notes:

• OF Gregory Polanco (abductor) was reinstated from the IL and IF Rodolfo Castro optioned to back to Altoona on Saturday after opening a couple of eyes while with the big club. El Coffee wasted no time; he was penciled into the starting lineup the same day. RHP Duane Underwood Jr. was recalled the next day; RHP Nick Mears was sent back to the farm. Nick has been up-and-down three times and has yet to have his number called.
• The Pirates homered in seven straight games, a season high, until they were held in the park on Sunday.
• LHP Steven Brault has moved on to Indy to complete his rehab stint. In his first outing on Saturday, he gave up a run on a solo homer in three innings, tossing 37 pitches.
• The Pirates still have a handful of guys on the 10-day IL: IF Erik Gonzalez, LHP Sam Howard, 1B Colin Moran, RHP Luis Oviedo and OF Ka'ai Tom. Brault and RHP Trevor Cahill are on the 60-day IL.

The '71 champs (photo 2021 Pgh Pirates)

• Steve Blass was back in the park Saturday; he threw out the first pitch during the '71 Pirates celebration. Helped by a mob of NY fans and fireworks night, PNC Park had its biggest crowd of the year of 27,222, the first time the yard cracked the 20K+ mark in 2021. Caught a pretty good game, too.
• We won't play the GM game, but the trade pieces most likely to be moved are Tyler Anderson, Fraze and Ric Rod. Chris Stratton and Chasen Shreve may be attractive, too. As for the other guys, there may be some inquiries, but it's hard to see how their return value will be greater than their current value to the Pirates, assuming that's a consideration. And we haven't forgotten about Gregory Polanco, but that contract...
• Number uno selection Henry Davis inked a deal for $6.5M on Sunday; his slot value was $8,415,300, so he left the Buc FO with a nice pile of pool money to play with. The Pirates have already signed draft picks #5-10 from the second day, all under slot, leaving them an estimated $8M for the overdrafts without losing a future pick. Second round pick LHP Anthony Solometo is here for a Monday physical and expected to sign Tuesday.
• Scary night - a Saturday night shooting just outside National's Park in DC suspended the game and terrified much of the crowd. Hats off to Padres Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis and Wil Meyers for opening a field gate during the confusion and herding a section of family & Washington fans into the dugout for safety.