Pirates/MLB category, Page 224
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...
Covid-19 shutdown gave Pirates pitcher Clay Holmes time to patiently recover from broken foot
Arm strength and athleticism matter for anyone trying to overcome adversity or even make it in the major leagues with a sound body. But there is something to be said for intelligence and patience, and Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Clay Holmes has shown evidence of both. He earned a 4.0...
5 big 2020 Pirates questions: Can the starting rotation keep team afloat?
With the Pirates ramping up to their 60-game sprint of a season, each day this week at “Breakfast With Benz,” we will be examining the five most pressing questions facing the team. The Pirates open the season on Friday, July 24 in St. Louis. Tuesday’s question: What should the Pirates...
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...
Pirates’ Colin Moran ‘locked in’ on bid to keep third base job
Colin Moran has plenty of important subjects on his mind, but pierogi races wouldn’t seem to be one of them. While chatting with reporters Monday night, the Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman was asked if he watches the races at PNC Park (after previously referring to them as “that race they...
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...
5 big 2020 Pirates questions: What should be done with Cole Tucker?
The Pirates are ramping up to their 60-game sprint of a season at PNC Park’s “Spring Training 2.0.” The Major League Baseball schedule starts for the Pirates on Friday, July 24 in St. Louis. So each day this week at “Breakfast With Benz,” we will be examining the five most...
Pirates pitcher JT Brubaker making up for lost time
JT Brubaker called it a “hiccup.” No pain, just “tightness.” Yet the strain in his right forearm robbed the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 26-year-old right-hander of all but four starts in Triple-A Indianapolis last season. No doubt, he has some catching up to do in spring training 2.0. He was the Pirates...
Pirates, Indians schedule 3 exhibition games prior to start of season
The Pittsburgh Pirates will launch the competitive portion of their baseball season Saturday at PNC Park with the first of three exhibition games against the Cleveland Indians. The opener will be followed by a trip to Progressive Field in Cleveland on July 20 and a return to PNC Park on...
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....
5 big 2020 Pirates questions: Can the Pirates hit their way to relevance?
The Pirates are ramping up to their 60-game sprint of a season at PNC Park’s “Spring Training 2.0.” The Major League Baseball schedule starts for the Pirates on Friday, July 24 in St. Louis. So each day this week at “Breakfast With Benz,” we will be examining the five most...
Pirates’ Luke Maile in a groove at the plate, out to shake reputation as defense-only catcherVideo
This coronavirus-affected 2020 MLB season can be described as a sprint and not a marathon. That works for Luke Maile. The new Pittsburgh Pirates catcher describes himself as “the anti-marathoner.” “That will never, ever happen,” Maile said of running a marathon. “People say, ‘You never say never,’ but I can...
Pirates’ Derek Shelton spends ‘awesome’ day at Steelers’ facility with Mike Tomlin
If during the news conference after his first game as Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton drops a well-delivered “obviously,” we’ll know why. Shelton and Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin have built a relationship over the seven months since Shelton was hired, and the two were joined by their respective general...
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...
State police staked out Felipe Vazquez after Pirates game at PNC Park in 2019
In an effort to find where in Pittsburgh the Pirates once-heralded relief pitcher Felipe Vazquez lived, state police staked out PNC Park last year and a trooper followed him as he left the stadium, according to testimony. Vazquez got the final four outs, three by strikeout, in the Pirates’ 9-4...
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....
Fantasy Sports: Pirates pitching sleepers, sneaky saves, home run totals, NFL signings and trades
This week’s Fantasy Sports podcast takes a look at potential Pirates surprises in a shortened season. Jeff Erickson of RotoWire has a few. He says Joe Musgrove and Mitch Keller have a chance to pop in the pitching rotation. Musgrove may outperform his average draft ranking. And if Keller can...
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...
