Kevin Gorman stories, Page 121
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Many roster decisions might already be made for the Pirates
The Pittsburgh Pirates are down to the final days of training camp, with exhibition games Monday and Wednesday against the Cleveland Indians before making final decisions on the 30-man Opening Day roster. Most of the decisions were made for them. The Pirates started training camp at PNC Park with 39...
Pirates bench coach Don Kelly receives rave reviews for running training camp at PNC Park
As a former bench coach who is well aware of the job requirements, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton has been deferential to Don Kelly when it comes to mapping out the minutiae of his first spring training and the subsequent three-week training camp. Where Shelton heaps constant credit on Kelly...
Pirates 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes, team’s top position prospect, tested positive for covid-19
Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, the team’s top position prospect, has tested positive for covid-19, manager Derek Shelton announced on Sunday. Hayes has not practiced with the Pirates at all during training camp at PNC Park and remains in quarantine. “He’s not back with us yet,” Shelton said of...
John Ryan Murphy ‘excited’ to step into backup catcher role for Pirates
Until a few days ago, John Ryan Murphy didn’t know whether he would start the season on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 30-man roster, their taxi squad or be sent to their alternate training site in Altoona. That was nothing new to a 29-year-old catcher on his fifth team in eight seasons,...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates’ first exhibition game at PNC Park was weird, wonderful
Perhaps the best way to describe the first baseball game of 2020 at PNC Park is to say it was an exhibition game that looked like a Major League Baseball regular-season game, was played like a spring training game and pretended to play to a packed house instead of an...
Joe Musgrove has strong showing, but Pirates blow three-run lead in exhibition loss to Cleveland
Joe Musgrove struck out five while allowing one hit and one walk in three scoreless innings, a strong performance for the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander a day after he was named the Opening Day starter. Guillermo Heredia drove in two runs with a fifth-inning single to center, a solid debut for...
Pirates lose backup catcher Luke Maile for the season after surgery on right index finger
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost catcher Luke Maile for the season when he underwent surgery Friday for a fractured right index finger, a day after being hit by a pitch in an intrasquad game. Maile’s surgery was performed by Dr. Edward Birdsong at Allegheny Health Network in Wexford. Maile is expected...
Kyle Crick has ‘driving force’ when he takes mound, with possibility as Pirates closer
Through a tumultuous season followed by a difficult offseason, Kyle Crick has found “a driving force” as a relief pitcher whose role could become even more important for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Crick’s rollercoaster 2019 season, which ended with a fractured index finger from a fistfight, was only a prelude to...
As Pirates play ball at PNC, no fans doesn’t mean no fanfare
The Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the first major sporting event in Pittsburgh since March 10 — a 129-day stretch — but there were no fans for their exhibition game against Cleveland on Saturday night at PNC Park. There were, however, plenty of cheers. The Pirates have been playing training camp intrasquad...
For Pirates, right-hander Joe Musgrove the natural choice to earn Opening Day start
Upon being named Opening Day starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Joe Musgrove’s mind couldn’t help but drift to the man who shared his love of baseball and pushed him to chase his dream of playing in the majors. “I just think about how proud my dad probably is right now,”...
Pirates confirm starting right fielder Gregory Polanco has tested positive for covid-19
The Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting lineup suffered a big blow with the announcement Gregory Polanco has tested positive for covid-19, which threatens to force the right fielder to miss the start of the season. Pirates manager Derek Shelton confirmed the positive test Friday afternoon after receiving consent from Polanco to go...
Pirates place closer Keone Kela on 10-day injured list
The Pittsburgh Pirates placed closer Keone Kela on the 10-day injured list, according to MLB transactions. The 27-year-old right-hander has not participated in training camp for undisclosed reasons. Kela was ordained the closer by new Pirates manager Derek Shelton at the outset of spring training at Pirate City in Bradenton,...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Discussing what Derek Shelton can’t, Pirates players with covid-19
One of the most uncomfortable interactions with coaches involves asking why a player didn’t participate in practice, attempting to clarify whether it’s for a disciplinary, illness, injury or personal matter. Derek Shelton won’t discuss it. Because he can’t discuss it. That’s the reality of the covid-19 sportsworld, when teams aren’t...
Pirates manager Derek Shelton’s office has HOF jerseys, Pittsburgh-themed vibesVideo
The Pittsburgh Pirates gave a glimpse of new manager Derek Shelton’s refurbished office at PNC Park through the lens of social media. On Wednesday night, Shelton gave a virtual tour. The office has a picture window, a new paint scheme and the stylistic touch of Shelton’s wife, Alyson, whom he...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates GM Ben Cherington ‘impressed’ by covid-19 testing
When it comes to covid-19 testing, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is impressed with how MLB has implemented the health and safety protocols in training camp. That’s especially true for those tested most frequently: Players and coaches. Cherington credited the league for being proactive with adjustments to the system...
GM Ben Cherington says Pirates don’t expect to add any players through free agency, trades
General manger Ben Cherington warned that the Pittsburgh Pirates probably won’t add any new players to their 30-man major league roster through free agency or trades before next week’s season opener at St. Louis, despite having the third-lowest payroll in the majors. “I would expect that the players who are...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates CF Jarrod Dyson makes powerful, provocative statement
The Zoom interview with Jarrod Dyson wavered from candid to cliche as the Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder touched on a number of baseball-related topics and showed his jovial and jaded sides. A serious question to Dyson, however, received a serious response. And it was as powerful as it was provocative....
Pirates add first-round pick Nick Gonzales to their alternate training site in Altoona
The Pittsburgh Pirates are adding No. 1 draft pick Nick Gonzales to their alternate training site in Altoona, paving the way for the former New Mexico State shortstop to play professional baseball this summer. Gonzales is awaiting results from a covid-19 test before he can practice, his father Mike Gonzales...
Pirates counting on speedy Jarrod Dyson to solidify center field, provide veteran leadership
When Jarrod Dyson homered in Monday night’s intrasquad game, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton joked it was fun to watch the “fastest guy running around the bases in the big leagues.” After striking out in his first three at-bats, Dyson cracked that he was just trying to “get off the...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Joe Musgrove states his case to be Pirates’ Opening Day starter
Another day of training camp saw another intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, but the Pittsburgh Pirates showed off some potential storylines for the start of the season. Josh Bell crushed a homer. Joe Musgrove was humming. The pitching piggyback made its debut. Jarrod Dyson rounded the bases, too. The best news...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Weird as it was for Pirates to play in silence, it felt like baseball
As weird as it was to see baseball back last week with Pittsburgh Pirates in training camp at PNC Park, it’s even weirder to watch them play games without fans in the stands. Even if it’s only an intrasquad game. And we have baseball at PNC Park.Intrasquad baseball.But baseball nonetheless....
Analytics for Dummies: Communication key for Oscar Marin’s approach with Pirates pitchers
From the first pitchers meeting of spring training, Oscar Marin made an immediate impression on the Pittsburgh Pirates by conducting what Jameson Taillon jokingly called an Analytical Seminar for Dummies. It was something Marin simplified for himself while taking a deep dive into the analytical world of data-driven baseball, a...
Love it or hate it, Pirates players grappling with reality of universal DH
The Pittsburgh Pirates have accepted that the universal designated hitter is coming to the National League, and that’s the only thing universal the Pittsburgh Pirates have accepted about the designated hitter. Manager Derek Shelton has said the Pirates will use a rotation of players as the DH instead of a...
Like his consistent swing, Bryan Reynolds thrives as low-maintenance player for Pirates
After a top-five finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting last season, Bryan Reynolds has a simple goal for this summer that doesn’t have anything specifically to do with his statistics. “I just want to be better all the way around,” Reynolds said Friday, after an intrasquad game at...
Pirates’ Nick Burdi bounces back from another surgery in search of a feel-good story for his right arm
Nick Burdi came back from Tommy John surgery to become a feel-good story for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season: the reliever who threw gas and wore black-rimmed glasses like Ricky Vaughn from the movie, “Major League.” After Burdi blew out his right arm again last April, discovering neurogenic thoracic outlet...
