Cracked fingernail puts Pirates reliever Michael Feliz on injured list

Michael Feliz was able to maintain his control and pitch through the discomfort of a cracked nail on his right middle finger in two relief appearances this week.

But the Pittsburgh Pirates decided to employ caution in Feliz’s situation and put him on the 10-day injured list Friday before their game against the Brewers in Milwaukee.

Right-handed rookie Sean Poppen was called up to the active roster and was available.

“It’s something that probably has affected (Feliz) the past two times out,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It got to the point where we needed to give it some rest. He continued to re-aggravate it.”

In two appearances against the Padres, Feliz did not walk a batter and allowed only one hit in 1 1/3 innings.

Poppen could be used in a long relief role. “He gives us some length,” Shelton said. “That’s important to us. If we are going to use him for a longer period of time, being able to minimize pitches is important.”

Hayes hits in cage

Ke’Bryan Hayes has been eligible to come off the injured list since Wednesday, but he remained there Friday while his injured wrist continues to heal. He hit off a live arm in the batting cage for the first time since the injury.

“I think we’re going to go day-to-day with it,” Shelton said. “The fact we have the ability to take him off at any point is positive for us. It’s just we have to see how he feels.”

Contact is good, but …

Kevin Newman struck out only three times in his first 47 plate appearances, but his ability to make contact was accompanied by a .174/.191/.217 slash line before Friday.

“The most important thing is there’s a lot of contact,” Shelton said. “Now, we have to make sure that we’re working to get more consistent hard contact.”

The right stroke

Adam Frazier has been hitting effectively to the opposite (left) field, recording seven hits and three RBIs in 13 at-bats when hitting that way before Friday. Overall, he was hitting .289, fourth on the team behind Phillip Evans (.342), Colin Moran (.311) and Jacob Stallings (.303).

Shelton credits Frazier’s “good, short stroke.”

“At times (last year), he got rotational with his swing and lost that really, really excellent ability to stay direct to the ball. I think you see (the good swing) consistently when he gets hits the other way and he stays short.”

Love baseball? Stay up-to-date with the latest Pittsburgh Pirates news.