August 10: Marcano underwent succe sful surgery on August 9, as by Justice delos Santos of MLB.com. The utility player is expected to return to full baseball activities in nine to 12 months. August 3: Pirates infielder will undergo season-ending surgery to repair the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, team director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk announced yesterday ( ). A date for the surgery has not yet been set, as Marcano will need to wait for the swelling around the injury to subside before surgeons perform the nece sary repair. The team had already placed Marcano on the 60-day injured list but had not yet divulged the full extent of the injury hed suffered. Marcano originally sustained the injury more than a week ago when running the bases in a game against the team that originally signed him out of Venezuela back in 2016: the Padres. The now-23-year-old Marcano was one of three prospects in 2021s deal. Pirates center fielder and minor league righty also went Aiden Fisher Jersey to the Bucs in that swap. Its been a tough couple years in the Majors for Marcano, whos logged 397 plate appearances with the Pirates but mustered only a .221/.267/.334 batting line in that time. Hes fared quite a bit better in Triple-A, where hes slashed .274/.359/.401 with 11 homers, 23 doubles, four triples and 16 steals in parts of three seasons (575 plate appearances). Hes also regularly posted excellent walk numbers and low strikeout rates in the minors, showing off the advanced approach and contact skills that surely appealed to the Pirates when acquiring him. Marcano has played second base, third base, shortstop and both outfield corners for the Pirates in the Majors. The bulk of his profe sional innings have been split between the two middle infield spots. Thats become an increasingly crowded spot in Pittsburgh hence the teams deadline trade of with , , , and all having reached the big league level. Cruz and Bae are both on the injured list alongside Marcano at the moment, but the Bucs will have a crowded mix of options once the entire group is healthy in 2024. Cruz is slotted to be the everyday shortstop, so the competition for playing time really boils down to wholl see the bulk of time at second base and wholl claim some spots on the bench. In that sense, Marcanos versatility is an advantage, but hell obviously need to hit more in the Majors if hes going to carve out a long-term role on the club. Ace Ciongoli Jersey