Thursday: Bucs Drilled By Birds; Yanks Next Up, Pitching & Lineup; Notes

Today: The Buccos welcome the NY Yankees to McKechnie Field for a 1:05 game. No radio, but it will be on Root Sports and MLB.TV.

The pitching: Jeff Locke gets the starting nod. Behind him are Cory Luebke, making his first spring appearance, Mark Melancon, Eric O'Flaherty and AJ Schugel, with Wilfredo Boscan in reserve. Masahiro Tanaka gets the ball for the Bronx Bombers.

David Freese makes his Bucco debut (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

The lineup: John Jaso 1B, Cutch CF, David Freese DH, Starling Marte LF, Josh Harrison 2B, Michael Morse RF, Jordy Mercer SS, Stew C, Locke P. Jaso is at leadoff again and Cutch is hitting second; there are many that believe the two hole is where the best hitter should bat.

Yesterday: Juan Nicasio is really having a spring to remember; 10 K (he only faced 14 hitters) in four shutout innings is pretty impressive, even in Florida. For Jared Hughes and Arqie Camanero, tho, not so hot...both were touched up for three run dingers. The result was a 9-3 spanking given by the Birds. The good news - Cutch clobbered his second homer, a no doubter off Kevin Glausman, and had two of the six Pirate knocks. Here's the box score.

• Speedy OF'er Antoan Richardson, a FA signing who has been MIA while recovering from a broken foot, saw his first action of the spring in the minor league camp.
• LHP Jesse Biddle, who is out this year after TJ surgery, cleared waivers and is a FA. The Bucs would like to keep him, but now that there's no 40-man roster requirement, the former 31 pick may be popular in the marketplace.
• If you were wondering, the Bucs keep their staff's pitching schedule straight during the spring by working them at the minor league camp. Jon Niese made his last start there, and Frankie Liriano tossed 70 pitches in four innings yesterday.
• Bronson Arroyo, trying to make a MLB comeback, tore his labrum.