BALTIMORE -- The Pirates placed Francisco Cervelli on the seven-day concussion disabled list on Wednesday after he took a foul tip off his face mask in Tuesday's game against the Orioles. Pittsburgh selected catcher Jacob Stallings from Triple-A Indianapolis as the corresponding move.
Cervelli was hit in the jaw area of his face mask on a hard foul tip off the bat of Caleb Joseph. On contact, the backstop fell back into home-plate umpire Mike Estabrook's arms. After failing initial concussion testing, Cervelli exited the game and was replaced by Elias Diaz.
Although Cervelli has had multiple concussions throughout his career, it does not alter his current concussion protocol.
"We view each event as its own individual identity," Pirates head athletic trainer Todd Tomczyk said. "We are aware that he's had multiple episodes, but this is different than the ones he's experienced in the past and the ones that he's experienced in the past with his previous club as well. We do take it in, in context. We do use it as part of our evaluation. But, again, it's its own separate injury."
Stallings hit .259 with one home run and 10 RBIs in 24 Triple-A games this season. Last year, Stallings appeared in five contests with the Pirates, going 6-for-15 (.400) with a double and two RBIs.
Worth noting
After exiting last night's game due to left knee inflammation, Ivan Nova is preparing for his next start. According to Tomczyk, the knee is both "strong" and "stable."
Right-hander Jameson Taillon is scheduled to make his third start for Triple-A on Wednesday in Toledo after undergoing surgery for testicular cancer on May 8. He has a 0.00 ERA in his first two starts after the procedure, allowing just an unearned run on four hits in eight innings.
Tomczyk said that Chris Stewart's hamstring is "progressing nicely." Stewart has resumed all baseball activities except for running, but Tomczyk expects him to begin running soon.