Pirates Starting Shortstop Heads to Injured List
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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates will not have their starting shortstop for the near future.
The Pirates announced that they placed Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the 10-day Injured List (retro to May 1), amongst a number of moves.
We have selected the contract of RHP Tanner Rainey to the 26-man roster and placed INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa on the 10-day injured list (retro to May 1).
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 3, 2025
RHP Justin Lawrence has been transferred from the 15- to 60-day injured list to make room on the 40-man roster.
Kiner-Falefa has missed the past two games with lower body discomfort, according to Pirates manager Derek Shelton, who spoke ahead of the series opener vs. the Padres on May 2.
"Two days ago, yeah, two days ago he came out of the game," Shelton said. "We didn’t know where it was at. We wanted to give him the off day of the day game yesterday and then after talking with him last night after the ceremony and I called. Donny talked to him. Just figured it was better to give him another day. Not having another shortstop here was a little concerning to us. So we made sure that we’re functioning with that.”
Kiner-Falefa has played in 30 games, starting 29 of them at shorstop. He has slashed .280/.333/.330 for an OPS of .630, with 28 hits in 100 at-bats, three doubles, one triple, seven RBIs, six stolen bases and seven walks to 20 strikeouts.
The Pirates landed Kiner-Falefa in a trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on July 30, 2024, with Charles McAdoo headed the other way.
He played 50 games with the Pirates in 2024, slashing .240/.265/.322 with 50 hits, 10 doubles, two triples, one home run, 10 RBIs, eight stolen bases and three walks to 41 strikeouts.
Kiner-Falefa hails from Hawaii and played for Mid-Pacific Institute in high school prior to the Texas Rangers taking him in the Fourth Round of the 2013 MLB Draft.
He would eventually come up to the Rangers in 2018 and played four season for them, 2018-21. He slashed .265/.316/.354, played in 1,523 games, with 372 hits in 1,404 at-bats, 59 doubles, 16 home runs, 118 RBI, 84 walks to 233 strikeouts and an OPS of .670.
Kiner-Falefa also won an American League Gold Glove in the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, playing at third base. He also led the American League with 136 singles in 2021.
The Rangers traded him to the Minnesota Twins, who then traded him to the New York Yankees prior to the 2022 season
He played in 142 games in 2022 for the Yankees, slashing .261/.314/.327, along with 126 hits, 20 doubles, 48 RBI, 22 stolen bases and 35 walks.
Kiner-Falefa lost his shortstop starting job in 2023 in favor of Anthony Volpe. He served as a utility player for the Yankees last season, slashing .242/.306/.340, with 79 hits, 12 doubles, 37 RBI, 14 stolen bases and 28 walks in 113 games.
He chose to sign a two-year, $15 million contract with the Blue Jays in the 2023 offseason. He played in 82 games with them in 2024, slashing .292/.338/.420, with 75 hits, eight doubles, seven home runs, 33 RBI and 13 walks.
Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.