Kramer, Elmore grateful for unexpected callups

MILWAUKEE – Kevin Kramer was having dinner with his wife in Albuquerque, N.M., with his cell phone sitting in their car. Jake Elmore and his wife had just returned home from a furniture store, where they were picking out a sectional couch.

September callups come in many different forms. Some take place on Sept. 1, the day rosters expand from 25 to 40 players. Many more players get the call the day the Triple-A season ends. For others, like Kramer and Elmore, the call back to the big leagues comes in an emergency -- and often when they least expect it.

“It’s funny how things work out,” Kramer said. “Obviously, glad to be here and helping any way I can.”

Kramer was recalled on Sept. 4, two days after batting second in Triple-A Indianapolis’ season finale in Louisville, Ky., and less than 24 hours after outfield prospect Jason Martin went down with a season-ending shoulder injury. The Pirates wanted another hitter who could handle the outfield, so they summoned Kramer.

Kramer had been hoping to rejoin the Pirates along with the first wave of callups that included Martin, but they didn’t feel like they would have playing time for him. Then Martin’s injury created a need for Kramer, who was already on his way home to Arizona. He and his wife made it to Joplin, Mo., the night after Indianapolis’ last game.

The next day, Kramer said, they “crushed 14 hours of driving with a full load of apartment stuff in our truck” and made it to Albuquerque for dinner. They were planning to drive another two hours that night, then Kramer’s wife got a call from his agent: The Pirates were trying to get in touch with him because they needed him in Pittsburgh the next day. So, Kramer caught a flight early the next morning and his wife finished the drive home.

The 25-year-old has played in 14 games this month and started six of them, making use of the additional defensive versatility he gained this season in Triple-A by playing left and right field.

“I hadn’t checked out because, for me, until I get home and unpack and relax, anything can happen,” Kramer said. “And, honestly, you’ve seen it across the league where guys have been getting called up. If I did go home, I probably wasn’t going to swing a bat for a couple days, but I probably would have stayed relatively still in tune with what was going on.”

Elmore, meanwhile, had time to enter offseason mode. The 32-year-old and his wife had just bought a house in Scottsdale, Ariz., and they needed furniture. He was in the middle of that process on Monday when director of Minor League operations Larry Broadway called him.

Elmore stretched and stayed ready, just in case, for a few days after Indianapolis’ season finale. But he didn’t take any swings after that game, he said, aside from swinging his son around to play. His odds of returning to the Majors were a little longer than Kramer’s, because Kramer held a spot on Pittsburgh’s 40-man roster and Elmore did not.

But with Josh Bell (strained left groin) and Starling Marte (sprained left wrist) still unavailable, the Bucs needed extra bats. They claimed Corban Joseph off waivers and selected Elmore’s contract on Tuesday, two weeks and a day after Elmore thought his season was over.

“I’d say probably the toughest thing, though, aside from the physical, would be turning it back on mentally,” said Elmore, who went 3-for-5 with two RBIs on Thursday afternoon at PNC Park. “Once you shut it down for the offseason, you know, you’re probably having a couple too many beers for a couple weeks and not working out and hanging out.

“You really have to tell yourself, ‘This is another opportunity,’ and I don’t take it for granted.”

Around the horn

• Catcher Jacob Stallings (back spasms) returned to the lineup on Friday against the Brewers for the first time since Sept. 12.

• Pablo Reyes rejoined the team after his wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter. Reyes started in left field on Friday.

• Joseph became the 54th player to appear in at least one game for the Pirates this season, one shy of the club-record 55 they used in 2016.