Thursday, March 27, 2014

Liriano Good To Go, Cumpton Sent To Indy, Bucs-Yankees Close Camp, More Notes...

Last day of Grapefruit League as the Bucs break camp...

  • The Bucs beat the Twins 2-1 yesterday; Brandon Cumpton tossed five goose eggs. It didn't help; the Pirates optioned him to Indy. That clinched the fifth spot for Edinson Volquez, who Cumpton outpitched in camp by a wide margin, for what spring performances are worth.
  • The Bucs host the Yankees today at 1:05, with Stolmy Pimentel on the bump v CC Sabathia. The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Jordy Mercer SS, Cutch CF, Gaby Sanchez 1B, Russ Martin C, Jose Tabata RF, Josh Harrison 3B, Neil Walker 2B and Tony Sanchez DH. The game will be carried on Pirates.com audio webcast.
  • The Pirates break camp today. They'll go to Philly's Citizen's Park for Friday and Saturday exhibitions, finalize their roster, and open up Monday after an off day.
  • Francisco Liriano went through a three inning, 55 pitch game yesterday and told the beat crew that he felt good afterward, so unless he tightens up today, he'll be good to go Monday. Volquez threw, too,  but was limited to an inning and 20 pitches.
  • Bruce Herman of Athlon Sports lists a bunch of record-setting done last season. Pittsburgh contributed a pair: knocking home a run in each of his first six postseason contests (Pedro Alvarez) and defeating former Cy Young Award winners in each of his first two MLB starts (Gerrit Cole).
  • The Pirates made a minor deal today, and Rob Biertemfel of the Tribune Review connects the dots a bit: "OF Keon Broxton was acquired from the D-backs for a PTBNL and was assigned to Altoona. This is merely an educated guess, but this trade tells me the Pirates were indeed talking with Arizona about Didi Gregorius and Broxton’s name kept coming up in potential packages. Sometimes, the trades you don’t make lead to others that you do complete."
  • Forbes Magazine rates the value of the MLB franchises. Pittsburgh is not first.
  • Ex-Bucs: Vic Black has been optioned to the minors by the Mets. He had control problems all spring, but was among bubble bullpen arms, losing out to Jose Valverde.

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