Kevin Gorman stories, Page 125
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...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Rainout bumps Derek Shelton’s 1st instrasquad game at PNC ParkVideo
Derek Shelton had his first spring training shut down by a global pandemic that also cost the Pittsburgh Pirates rookie manager his first Opening Day at Tampa Bay, his first homecoming trip to Chicago and his first home opener at PNC Park. Some guys can’t find a way to win....
Gregory Polanco hopes to live up to potential for Pirates, but first has to show he can throw
Gregory Polanco believes he can become the star the Pittsburgh Pirates once envisioned and is putting pressure on himself to live up to his five-tool talent. “For sure. I trust myself, I trust me, I trust the process and work that I’m putting in,” Polanco said. “I just need to...
Pirates pitcher Chad Kuhl comes back to camp with ‘gross’ curveball, eyes starting role
The stands were mostly empty and the batters were his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates, so the simulated game Wednesday night wasn’t quite the same as making his major-league debut against Clayton Kershaw. It was still a thrill for Chad Kuhl to pitch at PNC Park again, throwing two innings two years...
Pirates unveil 2021 schedule, featuring 162 games and openers against Chicago Cubs
One week after MLB announced the schedule for the 60-game 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates released their 2021 schedule that will feature them playing against the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day on April 1 at Wrigley Field and in the home opener April 8 at PNC Park. And this one...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Why the Pirates have Jameson Taillon working out at PNC ParkVideo
Now that right-handed pitcher Hector Noesi has opted out of the 2020 season for family reasons, the Pittsburgh Pirates are a player short on their 40-man roster for training camp at PNC Park. And that depends on who you’re counting. Staff ace Jameson Taillon also is in camp and counts...
Right-handed pitcher Hector Noesi becomes first Pirates player to opt out of the MLB season
Right-handed pitcher Hector Noesi became the first Pittsburgh Pirates player to opt out from playing this season, citing family reasons, manager Derek Shelton said Wednesday night. Under an agreement between MLB and the Players Association, players are permitted to opt out this season because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 33-year-old...
Pirates ace Jameson Taillon uses rehabilitation to shorten arm action, change delivery
A second Tommy John surgery was the worst possible news for Jameson Taillon, but the Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher decided rehabilitation was the perfect time to make a major change to his delivery. The 6-foot-5, 230-pound right-hander long had been interested in shortening his arm stroke and cleaning up his mechanics,...
Cole Tucker willing to do whatever it takes to make Pirates roster
Cole Tucker has never played anywhere but shortstop in his baseball career, so the Pittsburgh Pirates 2014 first-round pick has had his sights set square on becoming a major league starter at the position. With another former first-round shortstop Kevin Newman coming off a strong rookie season, however, the Pirates...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 54: Jerry Olsavsky could be counted on to make the stop
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 54: Jerry Olsavsky No matter what number he wore — and he wore both Nos. 54 and 55 playing football in Pittsburgh — there...
Pirates will issue refunds to season-ticket holders
Now that MLB has unveiled its 60-game schedule in a season that will start without fans allowed in ballparks because of the coronavirus crisis, the Pittsburgh Pirates have told season-ticket holders who requested refunds that their 2020 ticket packages will be fully reimbursed within the next seven to 10 business...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Steven Brault saves the day in a non-rain delay at Pirates camp
The Pittsburgh Pirates opened training camp at PNC Park to select local media for the first time, and the four-hour window included a rain delay with no rain followed by a simulated game in a steady drizzle. And just when we thought this shortened season amid the coronavirus crisis couldn’t...
After settling in at second base, Adam Frazier hopes his bat will keep him in Pirates’ lineup
Adam Frazier’s versatility has been a blessing and a curse, as he played the middle infield and all three outfield positions before settling in at second base for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Being a Gold Glove finalist in his first season as the starting second baseman hasn’t stopped speculation Frazier could...
The story of Steven Brault’s ‘stupid shoulder’: Lefty could pitch piggyback for Pirates
Steven Brault is anything but shy, so it was no surprise the left-hander had a candid response for his potential role on the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching staff. Where Pirates manager Derek Shelton has hinted he could get creative with the fifth spot in the starting rotation, Brault revealed there have...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Pirates ‘big on energy,’ but odd MLB schedule does them no favors
The Pittsburgh Pirates have known which teams they are playing and how many games there will be in MLB’s shortened season, but Monday night marked the unveiling of their 60-game schedule. As if finishing in last place in 2019 wasn’t punishment enough, MLB Network’s MLB Tonight: Schedule Release show just...
Pirates’ Shelton: Altoona camp more affected than Pirates for returns on covid-19 test results
MLB dealt with delays in covid-19 testing and results over the holiday weekend that caused the Oakland A’s to cancel their workout on Sunday and the Washington Nationals to follow suit on Monday, but manager Derek Shelton said the Pittsburgh Pirates “have not had that issue.” Shelton said testing delays...
Derek Holland adds colorful character to Pirates, who have lefty penciled in as a starter
When Derek Holland arrived as a nonroster invitee to spring training with the Pittsburgh Pirates, the 33-year-old left-hander did so with the hope he could make the team for a 12th major league season. Whether it was in the starting rotation or the bullpen didn’t matter much to Holland, who...
It’s official: Pirates open 60-game MLB season at St. Louis, play Brewers in home opener
The Pittsburgh Pirates will open the 2020 season on July 24 at the St. Louis Cardinals, then return July 27 for their home opener against the Milwaukee Brewers at PNC Park, MLB Network announced Monday night in a schedule release special. The trip to St. Louis will be a three-game...
