Saturday, March 25, 2017

Saturday: Detroit at Pittsburgh, Glasnow v Anibal Sanchez, Lineup, Notes, Bucs Win 4-0

Today: Motown comes to LECOM Park to play the Bucs in Bradenton. The game begins at 1:05 and will be on Root Sports with no radio. The contest will also be aired to out-of-market MLB Network viewers.

Lineup: Adam Frazier SS, Josh Harrison 2B, Cutch RF, Gregory Polanco LF, Starling Marte CF, Fran Cervelli C, John Jaso 1B, Phil Gosselin 3B and Tyler Glasnow P. It's time to get the Opening Day outfield amigos together. Edit: change that - Gregory Polanco has been removed from today's starting lineup due to left shoulder discomfort, hoo boy. New order TBA

Pitchers: Tyler Glasnow, Steven Brault, and Jared Hughes. All these guys are battling for spots, so a pretty big outing for the trio.

Tyler tries to show some consistency today (photo Pittsburgh Pirates)

Yesterday's Game: Don't forget about me, said Trevor Williams. He tossed five scoreless innings, giving up three singles, whiffing four and getting eight ground outs. Tony Watson, Daniel Hudson, Felipe Rivero and Juan Nicasio kept the vibe going and the Bucs won 4-0. Wasn't much Bucco batsmanship exhibited - they were in midseason form, going 1-for-10 with RISP - with Gift and Goose each picking up a pair of hits on the day.

Notes:

  • Frank Coonelly hasn't confirmed the Korean reports that Kang's visa was denied and said "The facts, as we know them, are that Kang still has not been granted permission to travel to the United States under a work visa. We continue to work with Kang and his representatives to present materials and information to the appropriate parties in the United States government that we believe establish that Kang should be permitted to travel to the United States under a work visa and we remain hopeful that such a resolution will be reached in the near future (italics added). We have no indication that Jung Ho has had a driving incident in a country other than Korea." So whether the Pirates are throwing cold water on the report or whistling past the graveyard is TBD.
Is there a market for Jared? 2012 Topps Heritage
  • Per the Tribune Review's Rob Biertempfel, the Pirates are dangling Jared Hughes and Alen Hanson as trade bait. Jared has had another tough spring while Hansen, who has been swinging a hot bat and taken pretty well to outfield play, is out of options while vying for a utility spot the Bucs are deep in. 
  • Chris Stewart left the game with left groin discomfort (what else?) He's listed as day-to-day.
  • Josh didn't get much work during the WBC. The Pirates got him some at-bats yesterday as DH in a minor league game and he'll start today.
  • Old Buc OFs JaCoby Jones and Alex Presley were expected to start the year in AAA for Detroit, but hot spring performances and a couple of injuries give both a chance of breaking camp with El Tigres.
  • The All-World Baseball Classic Team was announced and Gregory Polanco was one of 12 players named to the team. He was red hot for the DR, batting .579, hopefully an omen of him breaking out this year for the Bucs.
  • Matt Eddy of Baseball America picked his Top 20 Rookies for the soon-to-begin season. He selected Pittsburgh's Josh Bell and Tyler Glasnow, writing that Tyler could be on the verge of a "major breakout."

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