The Pittsburgh Pirates entered Thursday 25-17, good for a share of first place in the National League Central. Their efforts to retain a portion of the division lead got a little tougher, however.

That's because the Pirates placed center fielder Starling Marte on the disabled list due to a strained oblique. In a corresponding move, the Buccos will promote Austin Meadows, per Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic:

This likely will be a short-term call-up for Meadows. After examining Marte -- whose injury was not deemed to be severe -- the Pirates opted to play it safe with his sore oblique.

Marte had been having an impressive bounce back following a turbulent 2017. He'll hit the shelf having hit .308/.366/.503 with six home runs and 10 stolen bases over his first 41 games.

Meadows, meanwhile, will make his long-awaited big-league debut. The No. 9 pick in the 2013 draft, Meadows has seen injuries and unsteady performance in recent years remove some of his prospect shine. Nonetheless, he entered the season ranked as a top-50 prospect by Baseball America, MLB.com, and Baseball Prospectus, who noted he has the chance to remain in center field and combine above-average raw power with a potential plus hit tool -- or, in layman's terms, be a quality starting outfielder.

Meadows had hit a disappointing .281/.326/.380 in 31 Triple-A games. For his career, he's hit .249/.311/.388 in about 600 plate appearances at the level. He turned 23 in early May.

The Pirates began a four-game set against the San Diego Padres on Thursday.