Camp's Opening Notes

Pitchers and catchers and bears...oh, my!

• The whole pitcher/catcher gang has reported; no visa or personal issues this year. They were joined by several IF/OF who reported a bit early, with Josh Bell, Fraze, Corey Dickerson, Lonnie Chisenhall, Jung Ho Kang, Pat Kivlehan, Kevin Newman, Jose Osuna, and Cole Tucker among them. And of course the first day was a washout; it rained, chasing everyone indoors.
• Pitchers with aches and pains report: Chris Archer reports that he's fine and expects to be ready to go for the season; he's already got some bullpens in his rear view mirror. Joe Musgrove tossed off a mound for the first time since his surgery and, like Archie, expects to be ready for the season. Keone Kela, who was shut down at the end of 2018, looks to be fresh and 100%. Chad Kuhl and Edgar Santana, both recovering from Tommy John procedures, played catch on reporting day; it was the first time either has thrown since being TJ'ed. 

Archie looking forward to the season (image Pgh Pirates)

• Gregory has been soft-tossing for the past week; how quickly his arm recovers from dislocation surgery will be the determining factor for his return date, still mistily projected to be sometime between late April-to-mid June. 
• The Pirates signed OF Melky Cabrera, 34, to a minor league deal w/NRI ($1.15M guaranteed w/$850,000K in bonuses) per Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic. He'll audition as a platoon mate for Lonnie Chisenhall. Melky's stick looks OK, but his glove has never been much to brag on.  Here's a quick rundown per Alex Stumpf of Bucs Dugout.
• David Schoenfield of ESPN rates one under-the-radar team marker and fan enthusiasm - he picks Trevor Williams as the Buc's hinge player and that the fan feels are pretty lowdown.
• Fangraphs has its Top 100 Prospects list out; they have five Bucco babes on it. They are 3B Ke’Bryan Hayes (20), RHP Mitch Keller (37), OF Travis Swaggerty (56), SS Oneil Cruz (62) and SS Cole Tucker (83).
• Marty Leap at Rum Bunter takes a look at the Indy infield; with all the question marks the big club has in the dirt, could be that we'll be seeing the AAA guys making a move, especially on the left side.
• Baseball America has OF Bryan Reynolds as a projected fourth outfielder in the show, but adds that he's "...showing signs of being such a prominent hitter that he will outdo commonly held projections." He'll be one to watch as he transitions from AA to AAA ball.

Bryan Reynolds could be sneaky good (photo Getty Images 2018)

• LHP Taylor Hearn, 24, who the Bucs sent to Texas as part of the Keone Kela deal, is one of the pups Baseball America (behind a paywall) bestows breakout status on this season.
• Another reason to hate on the DH: Baseball America picks the seven NL teams it would help the most. Four are in the Central Division, and none are the Pirates.
• Country singer Garth Brooks is in camp to spend a little quality time with the Buccos. The Roberto Clemente fan was signed to a one-week contract, tho the 57-year-old doesn't appear to be a threat to Colin Moran, Jung Ho Kang or Ke'Bryan Hayes at the hot corner.
• The Hardball Times Dave Jordan sat down with Dave Parker to discuss the music tracks of his life.
• Pirates Prospects has a list of the spring games that are scheduled for TV.