Notes: Bucs On A Roll, Pirates Deal For Bart, Delay & Borucki Go On IL; Random Stuff

The Boys Are Back In Town...

Bucs Open Nats Home Slate: Let the good times roll; the Bucs did enough of everything to win their fifth straight, 8-4. Roansy Contreras got the win in relief of Marco Gonzales, Aroldis Chapman was credited with the save and B-Rey drove in three runs. After a day off, ol' matey Trevor Williams took on Mitch Keller and stopped the streak with a 5-3 Nat win; Keller still is still shaky on the hill and has been for awhile. The rubber match started a hour or so late thanks to a weather delay, but the Bucs beat the elements and the Nats to take the set with a 7-4 victory. The Bucs jumped off to a quick 4-0 lead and Martin Perez took it into the seventh to earn his first Pittsburgh win, and on his birthday yet. Happy B-Day to me! Connor Joe homered and David Bednar got his first save; five different relievers have already posted saves this season. The only other time that the Pirates had five different pitchers with saves over any seven-game span was in August, 1991. 

He's back - 2024 Topps 35th Anniversary

O's Come To Town: Jim Leyland flipped the ceremonial first pitch, God added down some snow/hail and Jared Jones chucked the first pitch that counted in a day more suited for the Iditarod than the Friday night Home Opener. JJ gave up two runs in six frames and K'ed seven, but the bullpen and the attack both fell short in a 5-2 loss in front of 38,400 fans, most of whom showed up despite the frost. Bailey Falter gave the Bucs six frames of one-hit ball (and that was a misplayed popup) on Saturday, but the bullpen made it exciting by giving up four runs. Still, the good guys walked it off, 5-4, in the 11th inning thanks to Oneil Cruz's rap plating Henry Davis. Joey Bart, in his first Pirates outing, homered. Pittsburgh took the rubber match, 3-2, behind Marco Gonzales, good pen work and two errors that should have ended innings (and the game) but instead allowed runs by the otherwise sweet-fielding O's, who also made several slick infield stops during the day. Jose Hernandez, just called up, was credited with the win after a Roansy Contreras setup.

Next Up: A PNC two-gamer with Motown on Monday night followed by a Tuesday getaway before a trip to Philly for a four-game set starting on Thursday.

Moves:

• The Pirates picked up C Joey Bart, who had been DFA'ed, from the Giants in exchange for RHP Austin Strickland, last year's 8th round pick from Kentucky. In four years of yo-yo’ing between the Giants and AAA Sacramento, Bart got into 162 MLB games and hit .219. He has a .274 BA in the PCL, so he seems like either a Quad-A poster boy or a guy in need of new scenery, both a far cry from the days of being touted as Buster Posey’s replacement when he was selected second overall in the 2018 draft. Bart was out of options and went on the MLB roster, so Indy RHP Colin Selby was DFA'ed while C Jason Delay (knee) went on the 10-day IL, joining Yasmani Grandal. Selby ended up traded to the KC Royals for LHP Connor Oliver, a 22-year-old swingman drafted in the 17th round last year out of Miami (OH).  

Joey Bart - 2024 photo/Pirates

• LHP Jackson Wolf, recently DFA'ed, was traded back to San Diego; the Padres originally sent Wolf, 25, to Pittsburgh as part of last year's Rich Hill deal. The return is utilityman Kervin Pichardo, 22, who is mainly an infielder but has played every position but catcher in the minors. He's shown a little power, but hasn't hit much in limited time in the upper levels (144 PA/.210 BA/six HR). Pichardo went to Altoona.
• LH reliever Ryan Borucki was put on the 15-day IL with left triceps inflammation. Replacement lefty Jose Hernandez was recalled from Indy; two weeks into the season and he's already become the Buc's bullpen yo-yo guy.
• Reliever Carmen Mlodzinski (forearm) began his rehab assignment with Bradenton on Friday and CF/2B Ji-Hwan Bae (hip) joined him there to start his rehab stint on Sunday. RHP Colin Holderman (flu) has been at Indy for a few days and should be about ready to return.

Notes:

• The Pirates are 8-0 when Connor Joe starts and 0-2 when he doesn't.
• Michael A. Taylor drove in an RBI in each of his first five games this season. It's the first time that he's knocked in a run in five straight games. Last season's longest RBI streak by a Bucco was six games, done twice by Bryan Reynolds.
• On Friday, Paul Skenes went three innings in this week's Indy outing - no runs, one hit and six K. 
• Planning ahead? Endy Rodriguez, out for the year after elbow surgery, is now carried on the roster as a C/1B.
• Manny Sanguillen was selected as one of the Heinz History Center's five 2024 History Makers, with the presentation dinner on May 16.

The Roadrunner - 1981 Topps

• The slot values for the draft were determined; the Pirates first round (#9) pick has a cap of $6,216,600 with a total pool value of $14,000,500. 
• The Pirates have added small locker rooms to PNC Park this year for female umps and coaches. Now to find some gals to use them...
• It was announced this week that the late Dick Groat was selected to enter the Pitt HoF. The long-time hoops announcer's induction will be September 13.
• C Jose Godoy has signed a minor league deal with the Phils after being released by Texas. His last MLB stint was with the Bucs in 2022. 
• Larry Lucchino passed away on Tuesday at the age of 78. Though he wasn't involved with the Pirates, Larry was Greenfield born-&-raised, and graduated from Allderdice HS. From there, he went to Princeton and Yale, got a law degree and went to work for Edward Bennett Williams. That link led Lucchino into the presidents role of the Baltimore Orioles (1988-93), San Diego Padres (1995-2001), and Boston Red Sox (2002-15).