Pitching Notes, Polanco Down, Phils on Tap

Happy birthday, Will...

• The Twinkies handed the Bucs a 4-1 loss yesterday. Jeanmar Gomez had a tough day - by all accounts, his sinker wasn't sinking - but on the plus side, Phil Irwin, who has missed most of camp with elbow tightness, got back on the hill and tossed a 1-2-3 frame.
• The Pirates host the Phillies at McKechnie Field at 1:05PM this afternoon. The game will be webcast at pirates.com. The lineup: Starling Marte LF, Neil Walker 2B, Cutch CF, Pedro 3B, Travis Snider RF, Tony Sanchez C, Andrew Lambo DH, Chris McGuiness 1B and Clint Barmes SS. Brandon Cumpton gets the start with Mark Melancon, Jay Jackson and Yao-Hsun Yang to follow.
• Stolmy Pimentel went earlier in the week, Wandy Rodriguez worked yesterday and Francisco Liriano will start today in Pirate City. Now that the minor league games have begun, the Pirate pitchers are getting in some work against visiting farm clubs without the hassle of a bus ride.
• Tom Singer of MLB.com takes a look at the not very spirited competition for the fifth spot in the rotation. Singer noted that the Bucs won't need a fifth starter until April 14th, two weeks into the season, thanks to a couple of off days. He also slipped in that Jeff Locke, not very surprisingly, will begin the year on the DL.
• The Bucs cut down a little further, sending Duke Welker, who was having a tough spring, and Gregory Polanco, who wasn't, to Indy.
• Tom Blengino of Fangraphs rated the minor league systems by impact prospects, and ranked Pittsburgh third. He added the caveat that the "System is a bit top-heavy, with a smaller than average number of projected regulars behind the impact group." He added that in his opinion, Gregory Polanco is a "Starling Marte-type player, but not the next Andrew McCutchen."