Pirates/MLB category, Page 225

The NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball are all in various states of uncertainty regarding potential returns to play. In this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden and I discuss which league is most likely to return in a form familiar to its viewers. I say it’s the NBA. That...

Austin Hendrick may come back to haunt the Pirates. He’s the outfielder from West Allegheny who they didn’t take with the seventh pick in the MLB Draft on Wednesday. By all accounts, the Pirates had a good draft, but everybody knows it’s a crapshoot, especially when you take a high...

An economic battle that has given baseball a black eye saw negotiations between the owners and players reach an impasse Saturday night, leaving in limbo what the season will look like this summer. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred declared Wednesday night there will be baseball amid a global pandemic, but what...

The Pittsburgh Pirates remained steadfast late Thursday night that they had no intention of drafting a handful of right-handed pitchers who were converted position players or pulled double duty. It just happened to work out that way. “Not a particular demographic we were pursuing, the position-player-to-pitcher demographic, but it just...

New Pittsburgh Pirates draft choice Carmen Mlodzinski is just your typical 21-year-old. No Twitter. No Instagram. Listens to Led Zeppelin, Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden and Stone Temple Pilots. Doesn’t play video games. Prefers baseball, golf and playing guitar. Like I said, a typical 21-year-old. If he was 21 back...

With their final pick of the MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates didn’t pull any surprises. Once again, they went with a right-handed pitcher. The Pirates chose Logan Hofmann of Northwestern State on Thursday night in the fifth found (No. 138), giving them five righties in six picks. The 5-foot-10, 190-pound...

The Pittsburgh Pirates turned the second day of the MLB Draft into a run on right-handed pitching. After taking New Mexico State shortstop Nick Gonzales in the first round and South Carolina right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski in the competitive balance round Wednesday night, the Pirates on Thursday picked three consecutive righty...

The Pittsburgh Pirates are making a run on right-handed pitching in the MLB Draft, taking their fourth consecutive by selecting Appalachian State senior reliever Jack Hartman in the fourth round (No. 108) on Thursday. “I’m speechless,” Hartman said in a statement released by Appalachian State. “I know that might sound...

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected another right-handed pitcher when they took Nick Garcia of Chapman University (Calif.) with their third-round pick (No. 79) of the MLB Draft. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Garcia went 9-0 with a 0.64 ERA and recorded 12 saves as the closer on Chapman’s 2019 Division III national champion...

Loud, stern and impactful, three words flew from Mike Gonzales’ lips to his son’s ears. “Swing the bat,” Gonzales shouted. Which is strange because there is nothing Nick Gonzales, the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 2020 first-round draft choice, likes more than swinging a baseball bat. That was especially true during that 2017...

The Pittsburgh Pirates selected Southern California high school pitcher Jared Jones with their second-round pick (No. 44 overall) on Thursday in the MLB Draft. The 6-foot-2, 175-pound right-hander from La Mirada High School, a University of Texas recruit, has a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and a plus-slider but...

When Carmen Mlodzinski committed to South Carolina before his sophomore year of high school, he was a shortstop with a strong arm who was warned that he might end up on the mound. How Mlodzinski (pronounced Ma-gin-skee) became a pitcher who was a first-day draft pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates...

The first round of their first MLB Draft together was lining up in a way that had Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington and his baseball operations staff feeling “really good.” The order of the picks wasn’t what they expected, as Arkansas outfielder Heston Kjerstad went higher than expected at...

With their second pick on the first day of the MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates selected college pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski of South Carolina 31st overall in the Competitive Balance Round A. With the 31st pick in the #MLBDraft, we have selected Carmen Mlodzinski from the University of South Carolina.Welcome to...

Hours before the MLB Draft on Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates released 39 minor league players in a cost-cutting move. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington warned last week that cuts were coming, a result of anticipated contraction of minor league teams and the likelihood there won’t be a full minor league...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have the No. 7 overall pick in the MLB Draft, and it’s the first chance for Ben Cherington to make his mark as general manager in a way that predecessors David Littlefield and Neal Huntington couldn’t. If the past two decades for the Pirates are any indication,...

Chris Archer and Steve Nelson are among two dozen former or current professional athletes with ties to Pittsburgh that are supporting the Players Coalition’s effort to end qualified immunity for police officers and government officials. The Players Coalition gathered more than 1,400 signatures from athletes representing the NFL, NBA and...

Wednesday’s “First Call” was inspired by the flashbacks so many were dedicating to Mario Lemieux. Tuesday was the anniversary of his draft selection by the Pittsburgh Penguins back in 1984. And that got me thinking of how many home runs the Penguins hit with their high draft choices. If you...

When Ben Cherington conducted a call on Zoom last week to discuss the MLB Draft, the Pittsburgh Pirates general manager was jokingly asked to divulge the team’s first-round target. “If you want to tell us who we’re taking,” Cherington said, “you have as good a guess as I do, probably,...

Before his first MLB Draft as Pittsburgh Pirates general manager, Ben Cherington was asked about his philosophy on making a first-round pick and gave the type of answer that wouldn’t tip his hand. “The simple, boring answer is best player available,” Cherington said last week on a conference call with...

Bruce Meyer, the MLB Players Association’s chief negotiator, condemned MLB’s “cynical tactic of depriving America of baseball games.” Hey, Bruce … right now, nobody even notices. Thanks to Meyer for another example of baseball’s exaggerated self-importance. We’re never deprived of that. It seems MLB, as per an agreement reached in...

After a week off, the “Madden Monday” podcast is back. Mark Madden and Tim Benz take a long look at attempts to reboot the NHL and MLB seasons. Why are both leagues constantly getting in their own way? From a hockey perspective, the issue seems to be how long things...