Pittsburgh placed Armando Rios on the DL Sunday with a bruised left knee. He also reaggravated a Spring Training injury to his right leg a couple weeks ago and has since been somewhat hindered by the pain. Hopefully this trip to the disabled list will allow all of his injuries to heal, though the Pirates have yet to release any timetable for his return.

The club will likely use Rob Mackowiak and Craig Wilson in a platoon to replace Rios in right field, with Mackowiak receiving the majority of the playing time. The 25-year-old left-handed Mackowiak broke into the majors last season. He's displayed few offensive skills above AA, and though he has shown marginal power and speed at lower levels, there was no accompanying plate discipline. Wilson, also 25, has solid power but no strike zone judgment.

Abraham Nunez returned from AAA to replace Rios on the roster. Nunez doesn't have a power bat and he hasn't been able to really utilize his speed in the majors. The 26-year-old needs to work on his plate discipline in order to maximize his other skills. He's demonstrated good strike zone judgment in the past but that skill has been dormant in the higher levels of the minors.

Nunez broke camp with the Pirates but was sent down for Chad Hermansen when Pittsburgh needed to activate Hermansen following his stint on the disabled list or risk losing him on waivers. Hermansen is out of options and his rehab assignment was expiring, so the team either had to call him up or attempt to send him through waivers to assign him to a minor league team.

Hermansen's play since his activation indicates a strong desire to hold onto his roster spot. He's compiled a 6:9 BB:K with 7 H, including a double and a homer, in 29 AB for a .241 BA, .371 OBP, and .379 SLG. The outfielder has also stolen three bases in five attempts and completed several impressive defensive plays. Manager Lloyd McClendon appears to be offering Hermansen the opportunity to claim the leadoff and centerfield jobs from erstwhile starter Adrian Brown. Considering Hermansen's former status as a top prospect, Pittsburgh's scouts will likely be very pleased if he can still develop into a worthy major league player.

The team felt they no longer needed Nunez on the roster after activating Pokey Reese from the DL. Reese's hamstring has reportedly healed, though he's not made a stolen base attempt since his return.

Pittsburgh cleared room on the roster for Reese in the first week of May by placing Josias Manzanillo on the DL. Due to rules regulating the resigning of free agents, the Pirates were unable to call up Manzanillo until May 1st. Manzanillo was only active for four days before bone chips in his right elbow led to his trip to the DL. He underwent surgery to remove the chips a few days after he was placed on the disabled list. The prognosis at the time was that he would miss 6-8 weeks, so he likely won't return until late June at the earliest.

The Pirates also recently activated Kris Benson from the disabled list, where he's been since Spring Training 2001 due to an elbow injury that eventually led to Tommy John surgery in May of last year. He struggled in his first start back against Arizona, allowing 10 hits and 1 homer, in 3.2 IP with a 1:2 K:BB. Despite pitching at Astros Field, Benson's second start went much more smoothly; he completed 7 IP with a 5:2 K:BB and only 6 hits allowed.

He appears to have generally recovered from the surgery, but Pittsburgh will still need to keep his pitch counts low this season. Benson's only a year removed from the operation and it normally takes closer to 18-24 months before pitchers approach their previous strength. He also needs to avoid overstressing the elbow and causing new damage, so it would probably be better in the near future if he stayed closer to the 75 pitches of his first start than the 96 of his second.

In order to clear room on the roster for Benson, Pittsburgh demoted Mike Lincoln. Lincoln had a 13:5 K:BB with 17 H allowed in 16.2 IP for a .54 ERA. The 27-year-old moved from starting to full-time bullpen work last season. His major league numbers improved after the switch, though they failed to rise to the level of his AAA stats. This season he appears to have made further progress, and I suspect the Pirates will recall him as soon as they have an opening for a right-handed reliever.

Pittsburgh moved Ron Villone to the pen in order to make room for Benson in the rotation. While the Pirates certainly needed to make room for Benson, and demoting Villone to relief work was the correct move, subsequently demoting Lincoln and his .54 ERA strikes me as inappropriately punitive. The team is now carrying three lefty relievers and should really attempt to deal Villone for even a decent A-ball pitching prospect, allowing them to recall the capable Lincoln and regain additional flexibility in the pen.