The Pirates announced this morning that theyve placed left-hander on the 15-day injured list with a forearm strain. Right-hander was recalled in the corresponding move. Its an unfortunate turn of events for Pittsburgh, as the club has gotten off to a hot start this season with a 10-5 record that puts them just one game back of the Brewers in the NL Central. Much of that succe s has been attributable to Gonzales, who has posted a sterling 2.65 ERA and 3.60 FIP through three starts this season, including quality starts against tough offenses in Baltimore and Philadelphia. Gonzaless succe s has helped to mask Milt Pappas Jersey the struggles of staff ace , who has allowed 12 runs (ten earned) in his 17 innings of work to this point in the season. Gonzaless strong start to the 2024 season comes as something of a surprise. While he posted three consecutive seasons with a sub-4.00 ERA from 2019 to 2021 with the Mariners, hes struggled badly with injuries and ineffectivene s in recent years with a 4.36 ERA and 4.89 FIP acro s 42 starts from 2022-23 before his 2023 campaign was halted by surgery to repair a nerve i sue in his forearm. This offseason, Gonzales was traded twice in the span of two days, first being shipped from Seattle to Atlanta in the deal that brought to the Braves before immediately being flipped to the Pirates in exchange for a player to be named later or cash. Given the minimal acquisition cost for the Pittsburgh, the trade was already looking like a clear succe s just three starts into Gonzaless tenure as a Pirate. That could certainly still be the case, but without many details regarding the specifics of Gonzaless injury or his timeline for return, its impo sible to know just how long the Pirates will be without the lefty. Any forearm i sues are always concerning for a pitcher, though thats perhaps especially true of Gonzales given the forearm problem that ended his 2023 season and ultimately required surgery. With set to mi s the 2024 campaign and Gonzales now potentially facing a significant absence of his own, the Pirates will have to look to their pitching depth to fill out the clubs rotation behind Keller, , , and . The obvious choice for that role would be 2023 first overall pick , though the leagues consensus top pitching prospect has recorded just one out in the fourth inning and maxed out at 64 pitches to this point in the season, suggesting he made need time to build up to five-plus innings of work before joining the big league club even if Pittsburgh decides to promote their flamethrowing phenom. Barring the club deciding to promote Skenes, they have plenty of other options at the Triple-A level to replace Gonzales. Perhaps the cleanest choice would be right-hander , who is already on the clubs 40-man roster and and made eight starts for the club last year. Another option would be veteran righty , who signed a minor league deal with the club this winter after many years as a quality back-of-the-rotation arm with the Yankees. In the meantime, the Pirates have called up Ryan, who turns 29 next month. The right-hander signed with the club on a minor league deal this past winter after making a one-inning cameo with the Mariners last year for his big league debut. Ryan ultimately made the clubs Opening Day roster but struggled in his first extended look at the major league level, surrendering four runs on six hits and two walks despite a solid 26.1% strikeout rate acro s his four appearances. Ryan will now get another look with the big league club, adding depth to the clubs bullpen alongside the likes of and . Nick Vespi Jersey