Pirates recall Bautista from Indy

WASHINGTON -- The Pirates placed third baseman Joe Randa on the 15-day disabled list Sunday, retroactive to May 2, with a bone contusion of the right foot.

Infielder/outfielder Jose Bautista was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis and put into Sunday's series finale with the Nationals batting leadoff and playing right field.

Randa has twice fouled a ball off that right foot this season. He did it on April 18 and most recently on May 1. Manager Jim Tracy said on Saturday that he wasn't terribly optimistic about a fast recovery for Randa, and the Pirates officially put him on the disabled list before Sunday's game.

Randa has a .221 average with one homer and seven RBIs in his first 22 games. Bautista was hitting .277 with two homers and nine RBIs during 29 games at Indianapolis this spring.

Tracy definitely remembered how well Bautista played during Spring Training, when he hit .345 with four homers and 10 RBIs in 24 games.

"I did like him in (Spring Training)," Tracy said. "From what I've heard, over the course of the last several days, he's been swinging the bat extremely well."

Bautista said he just tried to concentrate on doing his job while waiting to get a shot at coming to Pittsburgh.

"I just wanted to go down there and do what I could do," Bautista said. "I was not really thinking about how long it would take."

Tracy also likes that Bautista can play all three outfield positions, plus second base, third base and shortstop. Third base is probably where he'll end up one day, but he was in right field and leading off in Sunday's game.

"He brings a tremendous amount of versatility to our club," Tracy said. "He's here, and he's here to be used in whatever situation it is that makes sense to give our club a chance to win on a given day."