Pirates place RF Gregory Polanco on IL, select Hunter Owen from taxi squad

The Pittsburgh Pirates placed right fielder Gregory Polanco on the injured list Tuesday and selected infielder/outfielder Hunter Owen to the major league roster from the taxi squad.

Polanco is batting .200 with three doubles, three home runs and five RBIs through 24 games. He was 0 for 3 in the 2-0 loss to the San Diego Padres on Monday night, with a walk and a stolen base. The Pirates did not explain Polanco’s reason for going on the IL.

“He’s on the IL,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “That’s all we got.”

The Pirates will start Phillip Evans in right field and Ka’ai Tom in left, with Bryan Reynolds in center against the Padres. Evans started in left field on Monday night, when Polanco was in right.

“We lose one, Phil bounces over and the fact that Hunter can play the outfield, we’re fine in that regard,” Shelton said. “We’re fine versatility-wise.”

Owen, 27, split the 2019 season between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis, where he hit a combined .261 with 19 doubles, 19 home runs and 53 RBIs in 110 games. A 25th-round selection by the Pirates in 2016, he has played third base, left field, right field and catcher in his minor league career. He did not play last summer and was a non-roster invitee to spring training, where he batted .176 (3 for 17) with a solo homer in 20 Grapefruit League games. Owen is on the active major league roster for the first time in his career.

“I got a chance to watch him,” Shelton said. “He can both right field, left field, third base, first base. As we’ve talked about numerous times, we like versatility and it’s one of the reasons he was with us — because he can provide us with versatility. One of the coolest parts of my job is to be able to tell someone they’re a big leaguer for the first time, so it was obviously a really special moment for him.”

Shelton also confirmed that rookie third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, who has been on the IL since April 4 with a left wrist injury, took soft toss and “around 10 overhand” pitches from a coach on Tuesday.

“Encouraging day for Key,” Shelton said. “We’ll just keep going day by day with how he’s going but (Tuesday) was the first day that he did take overhand throws from a coach.”