If you haven't yet read Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com's report on the Pirates' handling of the Pedro Ciriaco promotion, you should.
↵↵↵Ciriaco was scratched from Indianapolis’ lineup shortly before Friday’s game. Those who inquired about a reason were told that Ciriaco had been slacking in drills and that a ball was hit toward him to catch his attention. The ball, as the story went, struck Ciriaco and he tweaked something in his leg. Ciriaco backed up the story, and the injury was discussed at length by Indianapolis’ two broadcasters during the game.
↵On Saturday morning, Ciriaco was on a flight to Pittsburgh. And that injury from Friday night, well there never was one. The truth — which was that Ciriaco was held out in case he was needed in Pittsburgh — slipped out on Saturday morning, much to the surprise of all sorts of folks who had believed the injury story.
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This comes hot on the heels of a weird non-controversy involving another reporter accusing the Pirates of banning prospect Tony Sanchez from using Twitter, so this is a very strange time for the Bucs to be doing something that appears to be so controlling and weird. General Manager Neal Huntington issued a statement regarding the Ciriaco story:
↵↵↵"We are looking into the situation in Indianapolis in great detail. If accurately represented, this behavior is not something we condone. We believe it to be an isolated incident and it will be properly remedied. While not always able to provide full detail, we will not tolerate blatant dishonesty."
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Good to know, I guess, and I suppose it's nice to know the front office wasn't behind this. The front office's relationship with the press was probably best described as "troubled" even before this. Often, Huntington and Frank Coonelly would be honest with the press to the point of saying things they shouldn't, and yet this isn't the first time a member of the press has accused them of being secretive.