Notes: Moves, Injuries, WBC,

March marches on:

Notes:

• The Bucs sent the Guardians a PTBNL (Greensboro righty swingman Ricky DeVito, 24, who was part of the Rick Rod deal with Atlanta, coming over with Bryse Wilson) for waived 28-year-old utilityman (he's played every position but pitcher/catcher in his pro career) Mark Mathias. In a small MLB (Milwaukee & Texas) sample size of 127 PA, MM has hit six homers and batted .256 with a 29% K rate. He has one minor league option left. RHP Max Kranick, recovering from TJ surgery, was moved to the 60-day IL to clear a 40-man spot for Mathias.
• One injury avoided: Cutch got plunked in the hand on Sunday and was pulled. But he said no worrys, and was right - after tests, he started again on Tuesday. A bullet not dodged found LH reliever Jarlin Garcia. He's expected to miss several weeks with a yet-undiagnosed hand/nerve  injury. 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes had a sore thumb and was been held out of several games. It's severity was undisclosed, but he returned to action Saturday and homered, sooo... Righty reliever Robert Stephenson, shut down February with right arm discomfort, is throwing side sessions and is likely to be on the IL when camp breaks.

Dave Bednar - 2022 Topps 206 Red

• Bucs off to the WBC: pitchers David Bednar (United States)/Roansy Contreras & Luis Ortiz (Dominican Republic)/ Duane Underwood Jr. (Puerto Rico) & NRI southpaw Rob Zastryzny (Canada), probable Indy OFs Joshua Palacios (Netherlands)/Chavez Young (Great Britain) and Altoona prospects RHPs Tahnaj Thomas (Great Britain)/Jeffrey Passantino (Italy). Lower level guys in the mix: IF Tsung-Che Cheng (Taipei)/RHP Alessandro Ercolani (Italy)/RHP Santiago Florez (Colombia) and RHP Antwone Kelly (Netherlands). 1B Choi Ji-man (S. Korea) and LHP Jarlin Garcia (Dominican Republic, replaced by Ortiz) were selected but non-rostered due to injury. Pool play for the WBC runs from March 8th-15th. Bednar had an especially auspicious start: he closed out the US' 6-2 win over Great Britain by striking out the side in the ninth around an infield single.
• On Tuesday, the Pirates trimmed the roster by sending1B Malcom Nuñez, IF Liover Peguero, C Henry Davis, OFs Lolo Sanchez/Matt Gorski and RHPs Kyle Nicolas/Jared Jones to minor-league camp. IF Termarr Johnson was the first to go back in late February when he injured his hammy; he's expected to miss six more weeks. RHP Quinn Priester was sent to Pirates City on Thursday. 
• Depth deal: RHP Travis MacGregor, the Pirates 2016 2nd round pick, re-signed a minor league contract. The righty split 2022 between Altoona and Indianapolis, then opted to become a free agent. He's a converted starter who slashed 6-4/5.22 last year after TJ surgery in 2019 and losing the Covid-cursed season of 2020.