Friday: Bucs Visit Rays, Lineup & Pitchers; Yesterday's Recap & Notes

Game: The Bucs visit Tampa Bay at Charlotte Sports Park in Port Charlotte. The match starts at 1:05 and will be on MLB Gameday.

Lineup: Adam Frazier 2B, Jung Ho Kang SS, Lonnie Chisenhall RF, Josh Bell 1B, Colin Moran 3B, Pablo Reyes CF, Erik Gonzalez DH, Pat Kivlehan LF, Steve Baron C (Brandon Wadell P). JHK at short isn't a thing; Clint wanted a look at him there as an "emergency" option.

And playing shortstop... (photo Dave Arrigo/Pirates)

Pitching: LHP Brandon Waddell gets the start against RHP Wilmer Font. Frankie Liriano, who Clint was considering starting today, will also go along with Brandon Maurer and Geoff Hartlieb.

Cuts: RHP Jake Barrett twas sent to Indy and utilityman Alfredo Reyes was assigned to minor league camp.There are 36 guys left.

Yesterday's Game: The Bucs used three solo homers, two by last-minute Class A sub Jonah Davis and another by Cervy, to counter the Orioles three-run, fourth-inning uprising against Archie (and it was ugly - a homer, two doubles, three walks, and a wild pitch in 2/3IP) to leave the game knotted at threes going into the ninth. Since it was tied, the inning started with a runner on second and two singles sandwiched around a roller gave the Birds a 5-3 lead. The Pirates got their free runner, followed by a walk and bopped batter. JHK then launched one into the seats to walk it off, providing another ninth-inning comeback by the it-ain't-over-til-it's-over gang. As for the runner-on-second rule, well, to us it's fixing something that isn't broken.

Notes:

• JHK also doubled on a chalk-kisser; it was his first non-homer hit of the spring.
• Jeff Hathhorn of 93.7 The Fan looks at a handful of positional Bucco bubble guys.
• Clay Holmes was sent to Indy; Clint said they plan to work him out of the bullpen there. It makes sense; we thought his potential was akin to a Jared Hughes role than rotation filler.
• Jonathan Mayo of MLB Pipeline checked out the Bucs farm; another wave of players will be looking to join Pittsburgh by next season.
• The Giants traded for former Bucco prospect Connor Joe, a corner IF/OF guy with a strong hit tool. He had bumped around the minors with Atlanta (the Bucs sent him there for S-Rod), LA and Cincy. It's an interesting move as he's a Rule 5 pick so he has to stick on the roster, and also that he went to SF, which seems to recycle every old Bucco through its system at some time or another.
• Ichiro announced his retirement after Seattle's two-game set in Japan, picking a best of both worlds scenario to hang 'em up. 
• A quartet who think the grass is greener where they're at: Paul Goldschmidt and Blake Snell signed five-year extensions with the Cards and Rays while Alex Bregman and Elroy Jimenez inked six-year deals with Houston and the White Sox. Free agency ain't what it used to be.