Bucs Visit NY, Camp Notes

The clock is ticking...ten days to the opener:

• The Buccos visit the Evil Empire in Tampa tonight. The game starts at 7:05 at Steinbrenner Field and will be on MLB Network, Root Sports and 93.7 The Fan. Edinson Volquez gets the ball for the Bucs. The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Neil Walker 2B, Cutch CF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Tony Sanchez C, Jordy Mercer SS, Jose Tabata RF, Josh Harrison DH and Robert Andino 3B.
• Pittsburgh lost to Baltimore 4-2 last night; Cutch remained en fuego with another homer. Francisco Liriano had a strong outing, but left in the sixth inning with tightness in his groin, which he said was minor but certainly bears watching as Opening Day approaches.
• ESPN has ranked Pedro Alvarez as MLB's #10 hot corner performer.
• Rob Biertempfel of the Tribune Review reported that Jeff Locke tossed a couple of pain-free frames in a sim game at Pirate City yesterday.
• NRI Travis Ishikawa is getting on the radar as a first base candidate, thanks to the less than encouraging performances of Andrew Lambo and Chris McGuiness, according to Tom Singer of MLB.com.
• Doug Thorburn of Baseball Prospectus dissects Tyler Glasnow in his article "Raising Aces."
• Tim Williams of Pirates Prospects reported that the Bucs released four minor league pitchers: lefty hurlers Zac Fuesser and Dalton Friend, along with right-handers Kevin Kleis and Ethan Hollingsworth.
• Ex-Bucs: The Nats' optioned Ross Ohlendorf to AAA Syracuse.
• Ken Rosenthal tweeted that the Reds expect Aroldis Chapman to be out 6-8 weeks before he can begin pitching activities again after undergoing surgery to repair broken facial bones.