Sunday, March 16, 2014

Phils on TV, Notes...

The Bucs are fast approaching the regular season; player action should pick up next week...
  • The Bucs lost 6-3 to the Rays yesterday, as Edinson Volquez and Jared Hughes were both roughed up, although two errors behind Volquez didn't help his cause. Win or lose, the locals have been loving the team - Saturday's sellout was the Pirates' fourth at McKechnie Field this spring.
  • Today, the Pirates play at Clearwater against the Phils at 1:05, with non-roster invitee Adam Wilks getting the start, and will be on MLB Network at 1. The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Neil Walker 2B, Cutch CF, Travis Ishikawa 1B, Brent Morel 3B, Andrew Lambo DH, Tony Sanchez C, Jaff Decker RF and Jordy Mercer SS.
  • Jeff Locke, who had an oblique issue, tossed his first bullpen session since being hurt yesterday. No word yet on how he recovered today.
  • Travis Sawchik of the Tribune Review has a nice article on Gregory Polanco being evaluated by eyeball and then coming up in the Pirate organization. The year of the Central Division rookie outfielder bonanza is a bit delayed with Polanco and St. Louis' Oscar Taveras both already assigned to AAA, but come June there's a great chance they'll join the Reds' Billy Hamilton, who looks like Cincy's starting CF'er right now, in the show.
  • Ex-Bucs: The Brewers are seriously considering keeping Wei-Chung Wang, the lefty they claimed from the Pirates in this year's Rule 5 draft.
  • James Santelli won a SABR award for an article he wrote last season about the Pirates' defensive shifts. Congrats to James and the site. The award is a big deal; every blog, web site, magazine and paper in the country are eligible for the honor.

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