PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco could be out until next June after having surgery on his left shoulder.

The Pirates made the announcement on Friday, which was Polanco’s 27th birthday.

Polanco leads the Pirates with a career-high 23 home runs, 81 RBI and 61 extra-base hits. He batted .254 this season.

Polanco dislocated his throwing shoulder on an awkward slide into second base on a double last Friday against Miami. He had surgery Wednesday to repair the labrum and stabilize his shoulder, and the Pirates said it is projected to take seven to nine months for a return to action.

“He’ll have the support of his family, he’ll have the support of the organization, he’ll have the support of a lot of people,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said before the game in Milwaukee.

“He’s a man that’s always been self-motivated, focused. Now is the healing, the rehab, and the strengthening and then the getting ready to play, whenever that is. We’ll look forward to that,” he said.

With Polanco out of the lineup, four players will be vying for time in right field, Hurdle said.

Adam Frazier, Jordan Luplow, Pablo Reyes and rookie Kevin Kramer, who was called up Sept. 4, likely will share right-field duties for the remainder of the season, Hurdle said.

“It’s going to be a daily decision on who we want to play second base and do we want to move Kramer to third base,” Hurdle said. “We did that the other day.”

Luplow got the start in right on Friday night against the Brewers.

The Pirates also said pitcher Chad Kuhl, on the disabled list since June with forearm and elbow tightness, is scheduled to re-examined after being unable to throw his scheduled side session earlier this week.

CUBS: Reliever Pedro Strop will miss the rest of the regular season with a left hamstring strain, leaving the NL Central leaders with major questions at the back end of their bullpen.

The team announced the injury after Strop underwent an MRI on Friday.

Strop has been Chicago’s closer since Brandon Morrow was placed on the disabled list on July 18. He has 11 saves in 13 opportunities since then and 13 saves on the season. He’s 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA over 592/3 innings in 60 appearances.

Unless the Cubs can make a trade, Manager Joe Maddon said before Friday’s game against the Cincinnati Reds that he envisions using a closer-by-committee approach, calling on veterans including Jesse Chavez and Steve Cishek to finish games.

Strop hurt his hamstring while running to first base on a double-play grounder in the 10th inning of the Cubs’ 4-3 win at Washington on Thursday. It was just the second at-bat of the season for the 33-year-old right-hander.

Strop pitched 12/3 scoreless innings against the Nationals to earn the win. He was set to pitch the bottom the 10th after the Cubs took the lead and was allowed to bat with the bases loaded and one out.

Morrow, sidelined with right biceps inflammation, expects to throw a simulated game on Saturday.

ATHLETICS: Right-hander Trevor Cahill (upper back) will miss his next scheduled start. “He had a trigger-point injection,” Manager Bob Melvin said. “Hopefully that alleviates it.”

TIGERS: Shortstop Jose Iglesias will miss the rest of the season with a lower abdominal strain. He hasn’t played since Aug. 29 and was placed on the 10-day disabled list the next day.

Iglesias visited Dr. William Meyers, a core muscle specialist, and the decision was made to shut him down.

Iglesias batted .269 with five homers and 48 RBI and committed eight errors in 125 games. The 28-year-old made $6.275 million this season and will be a free agent.

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