Well, the weathermen got this one right...it's a rainy day in Detroit, so the game has been delayed 24 hours to a 1:10 start tomorrow. It's the first Opening Day rainout since 2000 for the Bucs. March 29th, btw, is the earliest Opening date in MLB history and kinda iffy for the northern teams, although Detroit and Cincinnati are the only two rainouts.
The rotation remains the same: Ivan Nova, Trevor Williams, Chad Kuhl this weekend with Jameson Taillon on Monday for the home opener. That's followed by an off day and Nova, so Joe Musgrove still won't be needed until the following series against the Reds.
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| Good day for geese; not so much for ballplayers (photo Pittsburgh Pirates) |
Notes:
- As expected, AJ Schugel went on the 10-day DL retroactive to Monday with a right shoulder injury.
- This was to be the earliest the Pirates have opened, with three other games played March 31st. They are 3-0 in March games.
- The Pirates released seven minor leaguers yesterday, notably RHP Johnny Stilson (NRI), OF Barrett Barnes and LHP Cody Dickson.
- Bryce Brentz,
who was claimed by the Mets on waivers, was put on waivers by the
Metropolitans so they didn't have to carry him on the 40-man roster. He
cleared them this time, and can either accept an assignment to AAA or
declare as an FA.
- Ian Browne of MLB.com has a nice piece on the Cora brothers, Joey and Alex.
- Rajai Davis (Indians) and Pedro Alvarez (Orioles) were added to the active roster.
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| Your Opening Day Bucco squad (image Pittsburgh Pirates) |
Mildly surprised to see Barnes get cut since he was a first round pick once upon a time (compensation pick but even so). He didn't set the world on fire in the minors but hit .300 in Double A in 2016 and had a respectable .275 career average with an OPS just under .800. He could also run a little bit. I guess the acquisition of Reynolds and the presence of Meadows meant that Barnes was surplus, but given Meadows' constant injuries and that Reynolds is probably still a 2019 arrival, I would have thought they would keep Barnes for one more year as insurance. I guess not.
ReplyDeleteA mild surprise, Will, but he is 26 and doesn't profile much as a corner OF'er. Meadows will play center at Indy, Luplow has RF, Nava will be in the mix later on and with the 40-man still having three openings, the Bucs may try to bring back Bryce Brentz, purely as speculation on my part. The two OF'ers they traded for will both be at Altoona (Martin is a CF'er; Reynolds plays all three spots) and have Indy in sight. Time & competition just caught up to him.
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