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Pirates Place Lonnie Chisenhall On Injured List, Select Contract Of Melky Cabrera

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2:33pm: Bucs trainer Todd Tomczyk told reporters, including Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic (Twitter link), that it’s “inaccurate right now” to suggest Chisenhall will miss four-to-six weeks. The issue appears to be in his finger; for the time being, he’ll be shut down for ten days before being reevaluated.

10:21am: The Pittsburgh org has now announced the rest of its roster moves, as MLB.com’s Adam Berry covers (Twitter links). Jordan Lyles will also open the season with an IL stint owing to discomfort in his right side. He’ll be joined there by fellow reliever Dovydas Neverauskas, catcher Elias Diaz, corner infielder/outfielder Jose Osuna, and Polanco.

The club will indeed add Shuck, Cabrera, and lefty Francisco Liriano to the 40-man. To create roster space, righty Edgar Santana was placed on the 60-day IL while recovering from Tommy John surgery and the team designated relievers Jake Barrett and Aaron Slegers for assignment.

10:09am: Pirates outfielder Lonnie Chisenhall has been diagnosed with a broken hand, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). He’s expected to miss four to six weeks of action to open the season. The team has also announced it’s Opening Day roster, which as expected includes veteran outfielder Melky Cabrera.

It’s a tough-luck development for the 30-year-old, who was hit by a pitch late in camp. This is hardly the way he hoped to begin an effort at a bounceback season after an injury-marred pair of seasons.

Chisenhall inked a one-year, $2.75MM deal with the Bucs over the winter. The hope was that he’d serve as the primary option in right field while Gregory Polanco is working back to full health. Instead, he’ll have to do the same before he can contribute.

To open the year, at least, Cabrera will get a run instead in the corner outfield. It seems he’ll be joined in the mix by JB Shuck, another minor-league signee who spent camp with the Pittsburgh organization, though that has yet to be announced.

Pirates To Add Francisco Liriano, Melky Cabrera To Opening Day Roster

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The Pirates have announced that left-hander Francisco Liriano and outfielder Melky Cabrera will be on the team’s 25-man roster for Opening Day.  (MLB.com’s Adam Berry was among those to report the news.)  Since both players are in camp on minor league contracts, the Bucs will still need to make some room on their 40-man roster.  Only one more spot will need to be created, as Edgar Santana is already headed for the 60-day injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September.

The news means that Liriano will officially make his return to the Pirates, after previously pitching for the club from 2013-16.  Liriano will become the primary left-handed option in the Pittsburgh bullpen, with closer Felipe Vazquez currently the only other southpaw projected by Roster Resource for the 25-man roster.  Steven Brault is the only other lefty on the 40-man roster, so Liriano clearly had opportunity to win himself a job.

Liriano has primarily worked as a starter throughout his 13 years in the big leagues, and it’s possible he could still be some action as an emergency starter or long man for Pittsburgh this year.  At the moment, however, the 35-year-old looks to be primarily used against left-handed hitters, as Lirano has continued to excel against same-sided hitters in recent years even as his effectiveness against right-handed batters has declined.  In 2017, Liriano worked exclusively out of the bullpen for the Astros after a deadline trade from the Blue Jays, and Liriano served as a solid bullpen piece down the stretch and during Houston’s World Series run.

With Gregory Polanco sidelined for the first part of the season, the Bucs were in need of extra outfield depth beyond starting center fielder Starling Marte and left fielder Corey Dickerson.  The switch-hitting Cabrera will balance out the left-handed hitting Lonnie Chisenhall in right field, and Cabrera could also spell Dickerson against some southpaws.  Cabrera isn’t far removed from a .296/.345/.455 performance over 646 PA with the White Sox in 2016, though the 34-year-old has been roughly a league-average hitter in 2015 and 2017-18.

As per the terms of the two minor league contracts, Liriano will earn $1.8MM in guaranteed money for making the Pirates’ roster, while Cabrera will earn $1.15MM.  Both players also have more available in incentive bonuses.

Pirates Name Gonzalez, Kang Starters At Shortstop, Third Base

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The Pirates have settled on Erik Gonzalez and Jung Ho Kang as their starters at shortstop and third base, respectively, to open the 2019 season, general manger Neal Huntington revealed to reporters Monday (Twitter links via Adam Berry of MLB.com).

Gonzalez’s primary competition for the shortstop role had been Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer, the latter of whom was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis this morning, per a team press release. Newman, it seems, will still have the opportunity to compete for a utility role with the club, though he could land in Indianapolis as well if the Buccos decide he requires everyday at-bats. Kang, meanwhile, beat out Colin Moran for the role of primary third baseman. Moran will see some time at first base as well, which could afford him a bit more playing time.

The 25-year-old Gonzalez came to the Pirates in the offseason trade that sent Jordan Luplow and Max Moroff to the Indians. Gonzalez had to make the club one way or another, given that he’s out of minor league options, though it wasn’t set in stone that he’d break camp as the regular shortstop. The organization’s confidence in his glove, it seems, ultimately helped to sway the decision, as neither Gonzalez (.233/.303/.367 in 33 PAs) nor Newman (.276/.290/.448 in 30 PAs) has had a particularly impactful spring at the plate.

Kang, 32 on Opening Day, returned to the Pirates in September after missing all of the 2017 season and most of the 2018 campaign due to DUI arrests in his native South Korea, which prevented him from securing a work visa. He’ll likely bring a steadier glove to the hot corner than Moran displayed in 2018 (-8 Defensive Runs Saved, -6.6 UZR), and Kang has also connected on five spring home runs, although he’s also struck out 13 times in 31 trips to the plate. Moran is hitting .214/.303/.357 in his own tiny sample of 32 PAs.

Neither decision comes with permanence, of course. Gonzalez is a mere .263/.292/.389 hitter in 275 Major League plate appearances with Cleveland, and if he’s unable to improve on that paltry OBP, his bat will be enough of a liability that it’d eventually merit contemplation of a switch. This will, however, be his first chance at regular playing time, as he was limited to a utility role with the Indians given the presence of more established players such as Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

Kang, meanwhile, appeared in only three big league games last season — his first MLB action since 2016. He’s on a one-year, $3MM contract with the Pittsburgh organization, so he’ll have a bit of a leash early in the season but isn’t compensated such that the organization would shy away from moving on if he isn’t providing value.

25-Man Roster Notes: Indians, Pirates

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Here’s the latest on some veteran players signed to minor league contracts are faring in their bids to make the Opening Day roster…

  • The Indians reassigned outfielder Brandon Barnes, catcher Tim Federowicz, and infielder/outfielder Mike Freeman to their minor league camp, MLB.com’s Mandy Bell reports (Twitter link).  Catcher Dioner Navarro will remain with the Tribe’s MLB Spring Training camp for now, though he has also been informed that he won’t be on Cleveland’s Opening Day roster.  It isn’t yet known if any of this group will opt out of their minor league deals in order to pursue opportunities elsewhere, though Bell hears that Federowicz will “check with his agent.”
  • Francisco Liriano can opt out of his minors deal with the Pirates on Wednesday, though The Athletic’s Rob Biertempfel (via Twitter) believes the veteran southpaw will break camp with the team.  Liriano hasn’t exactly excelled this spring, posting a 5.14 ERA over seven innings while allowing more walks (six) than strikeouts (five).  Still, Liriano has an advantage since Pittsburgh has just two left-handed pitchers (closer Felipe Vazquez and Steven Brault) on the 40-man roster, creating the need for more southpaw depth in the bullpen.  Should Liriano crack the big leagues, he’ll earn a guaranteed $1.8MM, with another $1.5MM available in potential incentives.

NL Central Notes: Kratz, Wacha, Pirates

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The Brewers are facing a decision on veteran catcher Erik Kratz, as Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel details. With Yasmani Grandal and Manny Pina ahead of Kratz on the depth chart, Kratz’s days with the organization seem numbered. The 38-year-old is out of minor league options, and the Brewers only plan to carry two catchers on the roster to open the season. A move to either trade Kratz or attempt to pass him through outright waivers seems inevitable, and president of baseball ops David Stearns was candid about Kratz’s roster status. “We’ve tried to keep him posted on what’s going on,” said Stearns. “…It’s a balance between trying to preserve your injury insurance and trying to assess the market and what’s out there. We’ll continue to balance that, but I imagine that resolution will happen close to the end of camp.” Stearns added that he Brewers are “sensitive to do right by the player” in searching for other opportunities, while Kratz himself had nothing but praise for the professionalism with which the organization has handled the situation.

More on the NL Central…

  • Michael Wacha is very cognizant of the fact that this could be his final Spring Training with the Cardinals, writes Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A free agent after the season, Wacha has already watched the Cardinals extend teammate Miles Mikolas (on a four-year, $68MM deal). Wacha called the contract “awesome” for Mikolas adding that his teammate is a “stud pitcher and great off the field.” As far as his own contract status, however, Wacha stressed the importance of not getting caught up in that sort of thing with the season approaching. The 2012 first-rounder was limited to 84 1/3 innings last season due to an oblique injury, but he was sharp when on the field, working to a 3.20 ERA with 7.6 K/9, 3.8 BB/9, 0.96 HR/9 and a 43.2 percent grounder rate. He’ll be the youngest established starter available in free agency next winter, so a healthy season is particularly crucial.
  • Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette breaks down the Pirates’ shortstop battle between Erik Gonzalez and 2015 first-rounder Kevin Newman. Gonzalez, acquired from the Indians this offseason, is out of minor league options, so he’ll break camp with the club whether it’s as a starter at short or as a versatile utility piece. However, if Gonzalez beats out Newman for the starting role, it seems likelier that Newman would head to Triple-A for regular at-bats. Pablo Reyes and Cole Tucker are both in the mix as well, although Tucker has yet to even play a game in Triple-A and would seem like a long shot at this juncture. If neither Newman nor Tucker breaks camp with the team, Reyes could also be in line to earn a bench role as a utility piece. It’s a roster battle with numerous layers, which Brink discusses with GM Neal Huntington as well as several of the players involved.

NL Central Notes: Lyles, Strop, Reds

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Right-hander Jordan Lyles is still the leading candidate for the Pirates’ final rotation spot, general manager Neal Huntington said today (Twitter link via Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Huntington candidly indicated that the 28-year-old entered camp as the favorite to win the job, adding that neither he nor his primary competition — Nick Kingham and Steven Brault — has done anything to change that. Those comments did come before Lyles exited today’s appearance with some cramping in his right side (link via the Post-Gazette’s Nubyjas Wilborn), though the move was described as “precautionary.” Lyles hasn’t exactly dominated this spring, pitching to a 4.91 ERA on 13 hits and five walks with seven strikeouts through 11 innings, although the Pirates are surely more concerned with the quality of his offerings than his bottom-line results in a small sample of exhibition innings. Lyles signed a one-year deal worth $2.05MM to join the Pirates this offseason after posting a 4.11 ERA with career-best K/BB numbers in 87 2/3 innings between the Padres and the Brewers.

Here’s more from the NL Central…

  • Cubs righty Pedro Strop sustained a “mild” right hamstring strain in his most recent Cactus League outing on Saturday and is now questionable for the beginning of the season, Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports. (That, it should be noted, is not the same hamstring that sidelined Strop near the end of the 2018 season.) Strop will continue to play catch while resting and rehabbing the leg issue, and there’s still a chance that he could be ready to open the season on the active roster rather than the injured list. Currently, he’s in line to close games in Chicago while Brandon Morrow is out early in the year, though if Strop does hit the IL, veteran Steve Cishek would seem likely to be the next man up.
  • The Reds’ offseason additions of Sonny Gray, Alex Wood, Tanner Roark, Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp were a welcome departure from what has become standard operating procedure for many noncompetitive teams in recent seasons, opines Joel Sherman of the New York Post. While many teams have followed the Astros’ model of aggressively tanking to stockpile draft picks and international bonus resources, the Reds at least positioned themselves to have a chance in the division, even if few would peg them as any sort of favorite. “For the first time in a long time we added multiple well-known major league players to this team in an offseason,” president of baseball operations Dick Williams tells Sherman. “That clearly has people’s imaginations going. That is part of the fun. … Just to be able to ponder the possible and the excitement is a huge psychological benefit to our fans.” Even if the moves ultimately fail to yield dividends, several of the newly acquired assets (namely Wood, Roark and Puig) could hold value on the summer trade market, and the Reds didn’t sacrifice any of the organization’s very top prospects in order to take a shot at improved results in 2019.

Health Notes: Duffy, Polanco, Hicks, Sabathia, Didi

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Here are the latest updates on a few health situations from around the game …

  • Royals lefty Danny Duffy is working through a mound progression, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports on Twitter. Shoulder tightness has limited Duffy in camp and seems likely to prevent him from opening the season on the active roster. He’ll throw 25 to 30 pitches off the bump tomorrow, working in a few offspeed offerings in a session that ought to help the club assess his timeline.
  • Though Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco hit in a minor-league game today, he’s still on a slow path back to the majors. Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette tweets that throwing is the major limiting factor at this point for Polanco, who’s working back from shoulder surgery. Still, the outlook seems much better now than might have been feared. Polanco could return in May, per Brink, which might make for a nice early-season boost.
  • Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks has undergone a cortisone shot in hopes of resolving some lower back woes, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports. He called it a “lingering” problem that needed to be taken care of, but shouldn’t hamper his ability to play on Opening Day. Hicks believes he’ll only need to sit out a few days before getting back to action and finishing his preparation for the coming season — his first since inking a $70MM deal with the club earlier this spring.
  • In other Yankees news, southpaw CC Sabathia toed the rubber against hitters today for the first time in camp, Ackert tweets. Sabathia has been taking things slow after undergoing an angioplasty over the offseason. Shortstop Didi Gregorius is on an even longer timeline as he works back from Tommy John surgery. He’s currently taking dry swings with the bat, though, as MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch tweets. It’s good to see some tangible progress; Gregorius, though, still appears to be on a timeline to return in the middle of the season.

Offseason In Review: Pittsburgh Pirates

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This is the latest post of MLBTR’s annual Offseason in Review series, in which we take stock of every team’s winter dealings.

The ever-patient Pirates are again in wait-and-see mode after spending much of the offseason on the sidelines.

Major League Signings

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Notable Losses

Needs Addressed

The mid-decade Pirates, bursting at the seams with full-burn stars and depth for days, as well as a top-end farm system, were as well-positioned as any in recent memory for the Big Move, a three- or four-for-one swap that would have catapulted the team to the top of the National League. It never came. Fan clamoring fell on deaf ears in the team’s front office, which preferred to lean on its then-renowned player development system to unveil its next crop of new-wave talent, already, it often seemed, in full bloom.

Struggles followed. Stalwarts Starling Marte and Jung-Ho Kang were sidelined with off-field issues, Andrew McCutchen was an avatar of his former self, and the top end of the rotation looked more like the middle. The team’s vaunted Shark Tank bullpen had been drained. Nascent cornerstone Gregory Polanco had hit the skids. The window, suddenly, seemed closed.

But as the team plodded through a mediocre 2018 season (and after McCutchen and Gerrit Cole had been sent packing in the months prior), the brass finally showed its sword, sending out multiple top prospects in deadline deals for late-inning reliever Keone Kela and peripheral ace Chris Archer. It felt like Pittsburgh, so often content to fold, may finally be primed to throw its chips into the middle.

Alas, as the offseason’s nears its end, the Pirates are still playing coy. The team didn’t spend more than $3MM on a single free agent this offseason. Its only major trade – an attempt to shore up shortstop, its weakest position in recent years – brought back a 27-year-old utility player in Erik Gonzalez as its headliner. Gonzalez, who’s slashed .263/.292/.389 in just 275 career MLB plate appearances, will get short’s first crack this season.

Another former Indian, Lonnie Chisenhall, was brought in on the cheap for corner-outfield insurance; the team will cash in the policy immediately, as Gregory Polanco, who finally broke out in ’18, will miss at least the first few weeks with a shoulder injury.  Chisenhall’s last two seasons have been marred by injury; they’ve also been fueled by rockets, as the 30-year-old has posted successive career-highs in hard-hit rate, OBP, and wRC+, and appeared finally to be fulfilling his early-career promise when on the field.

Jung Ho Kang, the soon-to-be 32-year-old third baseman, is the real wildcard here. The team would like to find regular at-bats for Colin Moran, but Kang, who’s posted a team-best 129 career wRC+, could anchor the lineup if he can somehow regain his form. After multiple DUI arrests in his native Korea, and a sexual assault charge levied in his brief time in the states, Kang’s leash will be short – too long, still, for some fans, but the Pirates clearly know what they have in the former MVP of the KBO, and will be over the moon if he can at least approximate his mid-decade output.

Under-the-radar bullpen pickups Lyons, Maurer, Barrett, and Liriano (once a key figure in the team’s renaissance) endeavor to give the unit the depth it lacked in recent years. If even one can be righted under the mystical tutelage of pitching coach Ray Searage, the Tank may yet be full again.

Jordan Lyles will bring his steadily-climbing fastball velocity and much-improved curveball to the battle for the fifth rotation spot. Prolonged stretches of effectiveness have thus far eluded him in his eight-year MLB career. By effectively swapping him in for Ivan Nova, the Pirates shaved over $6MM of payroll but parted with Nova’s steady (if unspectacular) output.

Questions Remaining

The outfield unit is set and could be a fairly good one if Chisenhall is healthy and Marte and Corey Dickerson can repeat their 2018 efforts. Melky Cabrera is presently battling with J.B. Shuck, Patrick Kivlehan, and Nick Franklin for a roster spot and a reserve role. They’ll have to beat out 40-man members Pablo Reyes and Jose Osuna for a seat at the table.

Catcher (Francisco Cervelli and Jacob Stallings, pending the return of Elias Diaz) and first base (Josh Bell) are settled. Otherwise, there are even greater questions in the infield but also quite a few possibilities. Third base will be covered at the outset by a Moran/Kang platoon, while Adam Frazier will factor heavily at second and Gonzalez figures to have the inside track at short.

It’s not hard to envision changes at the 4-5-6 positions throughout the season. Shortstop is the real issue here, but the team, with its grounder-heavy staff, has never much seemed to care about offense at the position, instead entrenching sure-handed gamers like Jordy Mercer and Clint Barmes there in the last few seasons. Gonzalez is cut from similar cloth. Former top prospect Kevin Newman – who once ranked as high as #23 overall on Keith Law’s list – is hot on Gonzalez’s heels, though he hasn’t hit much after a midseason promotion to AA in 2016. Kevin Kramer is another well-regarded middle-infield prospect; he has served mostly at second base in the minors. Kramer struggled in his first taste of the majors last year, but only after turning in an eye-opening run at Triple-A. Reyes may also factor in the infield mix. Top prospects Cole Tucker (shortstop) and Ke’Bryan Hayes (third base) are nearing MLB readiness and could force their way up during the season to come.

The back-end of the rotation could be a problem: Joe Musgrove, though possessing of the ideal command/sink combination that drives the organization wild, has a checkered injury history and again dealt with multiple ailments last season. Trevor Williams has solidified his spot, but he rarely misses a bat (his swing-and-miss rate was the league’s third-lowest last season) and ERA estimators (xFIP, in particular) are not optimistic. If either falters, or misses significant time, the Pirates better hope that Nick Kingham (torched in limited action last season) or top prospect Mitch Keller is ready to make the jump. You have to squint to see Lyles as a suitable replacement for Nova, leaving the Bucs heavily reliant upon their preexisting collection of young arms.

What to Expect in ’19

The NL Central looks to be a thresher. The best-case scenario still has the Pirates contending for the Central crown, but it’s perched atop a heap of ifs: Archer returning to his dominant 2013-15 form, the back end of the rotation staying healthy and delivering quality innings, Polanco making a swift recovery and showing no ill effects, Frazier serving non-believers a season-long taste of crow, one of Moran, Kang, or Chisenhall emerging as a middle-of-the-order threat, and good health abounding. The likeliest outcome is that the Pirates hover in equilibrium, still stuck an arm’s-length away from the elusive treasure.

How would you grade the Pirates’ offseason efforts? (Poll link for app users.)

NL Central Notes: Brewers, Moustakas, Cards, Molina, Bucs, Polanco

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Mike Moustakas “badly” wanted to re-sign with the Brewers, who granted his wish last month when they brought him back for a $10MM guarantee, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic writes (subscription required). It was the second consecutive drawn-out stay on the open market for the 30-year-old Moustakas, a career-long third baseman who will move to second base in 2019. It’s a surprising transition on the surface, but not for either the Brewers or Moustakas. Thanks to the presence of third baseman Travis Shaw, who shifted to second upon Moustakas’ arrival at last July’s trade deadline, the Brewers negotiated with the latter with the intention of trying him at second, per Rosenthal. Moustakas, for his part, informed agent Scott Boras early in the offseason he’d like to prepare for a change to second in order to make himself more attractive on the open market, Rosenthal explains. In the end, the increased versatility didn’t lead to a long-term deal for Moustakas, who reeled in his second straight single-year guarantee.

Here’s more from the NL Central:

  • Retirement is hardly imminent for 36-year-old Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, who tells Rick Hummel of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch he’d like to play at least one more season with the team after his current contract runs out. Molina’s signed through 2020, which will be his 16th season and a year in which he’ll pass Bob Gibson to become the second-longest tenured player in the Cardinals’ storied history. However, while Molina wants to make it to at least Year 17, the potential Hall of Famer has no interest in overstaying his welcome in the majors. “I don’t want to retire when I hit .190 and I can’t throw anybody out at second,” said Molina, who batted .261 and caught 31 percent of would-be base stealers in 2018. When Molina finally does close out his playing career, don’t expect him to become the latest ex-catcher to become a big league manager, as he tells Hummel he’s uninterested in going down that road.
  • Cardinals right-hander Jack Flaherty, 23, was among the best young starters in baseball last season, when he recorded a 3.34 ERA/3.86 FIP with 10.85 K/9 and 3.52 BB/9 across 151 innings. As a pre-arbitration player, though, Flaherty won’t earn a salary commensurate with his 2018 production. The Cardinals renewed Flaherty for just over the $555K minimum – $562,100 – after they were unable to reach an agreement with him, Derrick Goold of the Post-Dispatch reports. The club first offered Flaherty $572,100, but he wasn’t willing to accept that sum, per Goold, who writes that the team determines a pre-arb player’s worth with “essentially a weighted Wins Above Replacement that takes into account service time.” Flaherty racked up 2.6 WAR in 2018, while reliever Jordan Hicks – who also wasn’t able to agree to a 2019 salary with the Cardinals – totaled 0.3. Hicks, like Flaherty, will earn less this year than the team initially offered him, though it’s unclear exactly how much he’ll make, per Goold. While neither player harbors ill feelings against the Cardinals, Flaherty contends that “the system as a whole is not great.” It’s hard to argue with him, especially given that reigning AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell is also in line for a near-minimum salary this season.
  • Pirates outfielder Gregory Polanco is making notable progress as he recovers from September shoulder surgery and could return by May, according to Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Polanco’s able to hit without restrictions, and he has progressed to throwing from 120 feet on back-to-back days. The injury to Polanco forced the Pirates to find fallback options in free agency over the winter, when they signed Lonnie Chisenhall to a $2.75MM deal and added Melky Cabrera on a minor league pact.

Pirates Demote Top Prospect Mitch Keller, 7 Others

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The Pirates announced a number of roster moves today, optioning pitcher Mitch Keller, JT Brubaker and Luis Escobar to Triple-A Indianapolis. Pitchers Dario Agrazal, Elvis Escobar, Eduardo Vera, Blake Weiman, as well as catcher Jason Delay were re-assigned to minor league camp.

Keller, 23, is the biggest name of the bunch, the Pirates top prospect and the #19 prospect overall according to MLB.com’s rankings. GM Neil Huntington provided commentary on the demoted pitchers to reporters today, including Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. On Keller, he said (via Brink’s Twitter), “He’s not the first or the last guy to have some struggles in spring training, but what’s really encouraging is his attitude about it going out. It’s not what he wanted, it’s not what we expected, but he’s ready to tackle it head-on.” Keller surrendered 10 earned runs in only 4 innings of work this spring, including 3 home runs. He struck out only one batter out of the twenty-five faced.

On Brubaker, 25, Huntington said (Twitter link), “J.T.’s been a guy for about four years now that we’ve liked much more than kind of the external noise is on him.” Brubaker put together a strong showing in Double-A and Triple-A last season, earning an overall 10-6 record with 2.81 ERA in 154 innings.

After this first round of roster moves, the Pirates big-league camp is down to 54 players, including 18 non-roster invites.

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