Bucs - Rays

The Bucs take on Tampa at McKechnie Field today. James McDonald goes against Alex Cobb. For J-Mac, it will be his third start; he's been up-and-down in his first two outings. The game is at 1:05, and there is no radio.

Lineup: Felix Pie LF, Travis Snider RF, Andrew McCutchen CF, Garrett Jones 1B, Gaby Sanchez 3B, Russell Martin DH, Jordy Mercer SS, Tony Sanchez C and Josh Harrison 2B.

Gaby gets his second straight start at the hot corner. EDIT - let's change that; Jones is scratched, so Brad Hawpe is batting cleanup and playing first, sparking rumors that Jones may be headed to the Evil Empire, as Mark Teixeira is out until sometime in May. But clubhouse sources tell the Bill Brink of the Post Gazette that he's in the dressing room, and that means he's probably just nicked up and getting a day off. More on that as or if it develops.

Pitchers: James McDonald, Justin Wilson, Jeanmar Gomez, Vic Black, Mark Melancon and Hunter Strickland.

Wilson is trying to impress the staff as the second lefty. In 4-2/3 innings, he's given up a run on four hits and two walks with five K. Gomez has been battered, giving up six hits and five walks in 4-1/3 innings and like Jonathan Sanchez is running out of time to be considered in the 2013 Pirate mix.

• Matt Eddy of Baseball America projects Gerrit Cole as one of 20 rookies he expects to have an impact in 2013.
• Mark Smith of Fangraphs analyzes how catching has become a more offensive oriented position than in past years, and later in the story uses Pirate prospect Wyatt Mathisen among others as an example of the new breed of hitters behind the dish.
• A couple of Pittsburgh Hall-of-Famers passed away on this date: P Pud Galvin (1902), who won 365 games, 126 with Pittsburgh (he's buried in Calvary Cemetery), and Cool Papa Bell (1991), the speedy center fielder who played with both the Homestead Grays and Pittsburgh Crawfords.
• Also on this date in 1995, the Veterans Committee selected RHP Vic Willis for the Hall of Fame. Willis pitched from 1906-09 with Pittsburgh, going 89-46 with a 2.08 ERA. The workhorse curveballer was inducted on July 30th with 249 career victories.