PITTSBURGH -- Francisco Cervelli isn’t worried about his hitting. He’s had a rough start at the plate, but Cervelli is confident he can work his way out of a slump. It’s getting hit that bothers him.

Catcher Elias Díaz started for the seventh time in the Pirates’ last eight games against the Dodgers on Friday night at PNC Park. Cervelli said he was feeling good after exiting Tuesday’s 5-0 loss to the Rockies with an upper chest contusion after being hit by a foul tip, but that injury -- combined with a previous foul tip he took to the collarbone on May 15 -- has frustrated Pittsburgh’s starting catcher.

“I can fix the hitting part,” Cervelli said. “But when you get hit in weird parts, that’s more difficult.”

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle gave Cervelli four days off in San Diego to work on his swing, as Cervelli carried a .185/.273/.241 slash line into Friday’s series opener against the Dodgers. He got back behind the plate on Tuesday, only to be knocked out by the foul tip near his throat.

“I just keep getting hit a little hard lately,” Cervelli said. “It’s just weird spots, man. The last two games, I’m getting hit in places that normally a catcher doesn’t get hit. Yeah, that hurts … It’s been a lot, but I hope everything changes.”

Cervelli is accustomed to the dings and dents that come with catching. After playing a career-high 130 games in 2015, he has averaged 95.3 games per year from '16 to ‘18. He’s dealt with concussions and fractures and muscle strains before, but never anything quite as unusual as the injuries he’s sustained in his last two starts.

“It’s been weird. The good news is I’m able to stand up and keep going,” Cervelli said. “I’m a catcher. That’s what I like, and I’m going to continue to be a catcher.”

The one thing Cervelli has always done is hit. In his first four years with the Pirates, he batted .270 with a .368 OBP. Last season, he launched a career-high 12 home runs and posted a .431 slugging percentage in 104 games. Whenever he gets back in the lineup, he hopes his recent work will get him back to that level.

“Things have got to change, man. We cannot be all the time the same way. I will change,” Cervelli said. “I had time to swing a lot, and that’s a thing I’m not used to, swinging so much. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

Injury updates

Left fielder Corey Dickerson began a Minor League rehab assignment with Triple-A Indianapolis Friday night. Dickerson has been on the injured list since April 4 due to a right-posterior shoulder strain.

After batting .300 and winning his first Gold Glove Award last season, Dickerson only played in four games before going on the injured list. The Pirates will ease Dickerson into action with a handful of games in left field and as Indianapolis’ designated hitter. Even when he returns to the Majors, he likely won’t play every day -- much like right fielder Gregory Polanco hasn’t played every day since his return from the IL.

“We’ve encouraged him to take the time to see pitches, to see velocity and spin, run the bases. There’s a lot going into this, the goal being when he comes back, he’s going to be able to do damage,” Hurdle said. “We’ve scheduled it out for him, a solid period of time and a number of games in the outfield and a small number of games DHing.”

The Pirates have handled Dickerson’s extended absence well, as veteran Melky Cabrera and rookie Bryan Reynolds have stepped up in his absence.

Opening Day setup man Keone Kela, out since May 4 due to right shoulder inflammation, is scheduled to pitch an inning for Indianapolis on Saturday as part of his rehab assignment.