Notes: Cuts, Team & League News

Rug-cutting time...

Notes:

• OF Travis Swaggerty (Canaan Smith-Njigba & Connor Joe remain), RHPs Luis Ortiz & Yohan Ramirez and IFs Chris Owings (who had an opt-out but decided to report) & Tucupira Marcano were assigned to Indy. Sent to to minor league camp were IF Andres Alvarez, C Carter Bins, RHPs Cody Bolton & Carmen Mlodzinski, OFs Miguel Andujar & Chavez Young (who helped his cause with a strong WBC) and LHPs Daniel Zamora & Angel Perdomo. 
• C Henry Plawecki won't break camp with the team; the team informed him he wasn't going to make the active roster and the NRI has an opt out clause that he's triggered. That leaves Tyler Heinemann and Jason Delay, neither on the 40-man, as likely caddies for Austin Hedges. As for the young 'uns, Endy Rodriguez will open at Indy while Henry Davis will begin this season with Altoona, per GM Ben Cherington. He added not to read much into the level; they were split because the team wanted both of them to be full-time, starting backstops.
• MLB Pipeline thinks the Buc system is still solid, ranking the farm as the fifth strongest in MLB.
• Cutch returned Tuesday from some down time with a sore elbow and homered.

David Bednar - 2022 Topps Red T206

• RHP David Bednar reported back to camp with a silver medal from his WBC-USA jaunt. His slash was 1-0 /2.25 in four outings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and no walks.
• The Pirates are worth quite a few bucks, per Forbes.
• If you're wondering about the softball-looking jerseys some teams sported last year, the Bucs are jumping on the bandwagon. They will don Nike's City Connect alternate uniforms sometime this year; design details undisclosed.
• C Roberto Perez, who spent a year in Pittsburgh last season mostly on the IL, is the Giants reserve backstop.
• The Cubs assigned RHP Adrian Sampson to AAA Wichita. The former Buc prospect was vying for the fifth spot in the rotation. 
• The Rays' RHP Kyle Crick (2018-21 Pirates reliever) opted out of his deal after failing to land a roster spot in Tampa Bay.
• RHP Mark Appel, who shot down the Bucs after being their top pick of the 2012 draft (#8 overall) out of Stanford, was released by the Phils on Monday.
• Congrats to Japan on winning the WBC over the US, 3-2, in a classic finale. Shohei Ohtani struck out Angels' teammate Mike Trout swinging with a full-count slider to close it out.
• The pitching clock rules will remain in effect with a minor tweak or two per MLB, though they do say that they'll monitor its effect and adjust things further if needed. They did note that the bat boys and girls will have to hustle (some managers apparently had their lil' helpers drag out the proceedings) or find a new gig.