The Pittsburgh Pirates placed right-hander Vince Velasquez on the 15-day injured list Sunday, a day after his return from a previous bout with elbow inflammation ended after two innings.
Velasquez started Saturday against the Seattle Mariners, his first appearance since May 4. He allowed four runs on seven hits in what would become a 5-0 defeat for the Pirates.
Pittsburgh recalled right-hander Cody Bolton from Triple-A Indianapolis. The 24-year-old Bolton made his major league debut with the Pirates last month, posting a 4.50 ERA with no decisions in three relief appearances across six innings. He is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA in 13 appearances for Indianapolis.
Velasquez, 30, is 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA across eight starts in his first season with Pittsburgh after signing a one-year, $3.15 million deal in December. In his nine-year career, he is 38-51 with a 4.88 ERA in 191 career games (144 starts) with the Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres, Chicago White Sox and Pirates.
The Pirates, one of the hottest teams in baseball the first month of the season, are closing a subpar May. Eleven games over .500 headed into the month, Pittsburgh was just one game over .500 before Sunday’s series finale in Seattle.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.