PITTSBURGH -- In the aftermath of the Friday trade of outfielder Xavier Nady and relief pitcher Damaso Marte to the New York Yankees -- the Pirates have recalled first baseman/outfielder Steve Pearce from Triple-A Indianapolis.

Pearce was in the right field spot in the Bucs starting lineup for Saturday night's game with San Diego.

"We've got options -- we called Pearce up," Pirates manager John Russell said. "We'll give him an opportunity to play and kind of see where he's at, and we obviously feel comfortable with Jason Michaels, and Doug Mientkiewicz has been able to play out there some. We feel pretty good -- obviously you can't replace Xavier Nady as far as what he brought to our team and our clubhouse. It's a chance for us to get Pearce into the atmosphere and system up here and get him some at-bats and see where we can go with it. That's basically what we'll do for a little while."

The 25-year-old rookie spent a week with the Pirates this season in early July and was 1-for-3 as a pinch-hitter and played two innings in right field on July 4 in Milwaukee.

"It's definitely good to be back up," Pearce stated. "I got a call at 3 o'clock in the morning and it's definitely a phone call you don't mind getting."

Pearce was hitting .258 in 93 games with Indianapolis, with 11 home runs and 54 RBIs.

"When I got sent back down from here, I struggled a little bit," Pearce offered. "I feel good at the plate and I feel comfortable. I just got to get a couple of hits and get my confidence back up."

Pearce was the Minor League player of the year last season after hitting .328 with 31 home runs and 119 RBIs in stops at Lynchburg, Altoona and Indianapolis. He feels that he has an opportunity and that his time is now.

"That's my goal," Pearce explained. "I'm going to work hard and hopefully I can win this job, and that's what I plan to do. I believe it is my time. I've been working in the Minor Leagues the last couple of years and put up good numbers, and right now I have the shot and I'm going to make the best of it."

Pearce isn't worried about the pressure of replacing Nady, who was having an outstanding season.

"I'm not going to worry about that," Pearce said. "I'm just going to go out there and play my game and do what I can do. We're going to miss Nady, but he's with another team now and I'm going to try to play the best I can for the Pirates."