Kevin Gorman stories, Page 15

Alika Williams knows how quickly fortunes can change, especially after a “crazy year” saw him start the season at Double-A only to be traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates and promoted to the major leagues the next month. After being thrust into the starting shortstop role late last July, Williams decided...

Oneil Cruz and Bryan Reynolds hit back-to-back home runs to get the Pittsburgh Pirates off to a strong start, and Cruz added another tape-measure blast that gave them a five-run lead. Cruz went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, driving in the tying run by sprinting to beat the double-play...

Jake Lamb has something on his resume that no other Pittsburgh Pirates player can claim — a 30-home run, 100-RBI season — but the 33-year-old corner infielder also is aware that it happened seven years ago. A lot has happened in the interim for Lamb, who has learned to adapt...

Henry Davis is taking advantage of the absence of Yasmani Grandal and is doing his best to secure a spot as a catcher on the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Opening Day roster. Davis homered for the fourth time in his past five games, extending his Grapefruit League lead in home runs and...

To see Endy Rodriguez around his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates in the clubhouse, there is little indication that he’s recovering from reconstructive elbow surgery and expected to miss the season. Rodriguez has retained his ebullient personality in spring training, wearing a perpetual smile while conversing in the clubhouse with his teammates...

When Braxton Ashcraft made his Grapefruit League debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates, the right-hander wasted no time filling up the strike zone with his fastball against one of baseball’s best sluggers. Four of Ashcraft’s first five pitches to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were four-seamers, including one clocked at 98.2 mph over...

Headlined by right-handed pitcher Paul Skenes and second baseman Termarr Johnson, the Pittsburgh Pirates will have 20 of their top 30 prospects on their roster for the Spring Breakout game. A new MLB concept, the Spring Breakout features top prospects from the Pirates and Baltimore Orioles who will play a...

Joshua Palacios attributes much of his success with the Pittsburgh Pirates to playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, helping him make the jump from Double-A to the major leagues last season. But Palacios wanted to work on his weaknesses, so he spent this past offseason visiting Driveline Baseball and Motor...

Mitch Keller gave up three runs on four hits for the second consecutive start and surrendered his first home run of spring training Wednesday night against the Baltimore Orioles. Anthony Santander hit a two-run homer off the Pittsburgh Pirates ace in the first inning. Keller allowed another run in the...

MLB Pipeline has Paul Skenes as the No. 1 prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates in its updated top 30 rankings and moved shortstop/third baseman Jack Brannigan into the top 10. Skenes, the right-hander who was the No. 1 overall pick in the MLB Draft last July, is one of six...

Liover Peguero started last season at Double-A Altoona and finished it in the major leagues, a humbling experience for a middle infielder who was one of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ top prospects. Peguero is being careful not to allow his opportunity to open this season as the starting second baseman to...

Andrew McCutchen made his Grapefruit League debut for the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing in a game for the first time since a season-ending partial tear of his left Achilles last September. And he didn’t miss a beat. The 37-year-old designated hitter produced a soft single to center field in his first...

The Pittsburgh Pirates told right-hander Paul Skenes, the No. 1 overall pick of the 2023 MLB Draft and baseball’s top pitching prospect, that he won’t make the Opening Day roster. Pirates general manager Ben Cherington informed Skenes on Tuesday morning that he will start the season in the minor leagues...

Jared Jones got a text message from Henry Davis asking him to come to Florida to work out, so the 22-year-old right-hander spent the offseason working with another player who has something to prove this spring. Jones and Davis were battery mates at High-A Greensboro and Double-A Altoona, where they...

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their first cuts of spring training after Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays, sending three top-10 prospects to their minor league camp at Pirate City in Bradenton, Fla. Right-handed pitchers Bubba Chandler and Thomas Harrington and left-hander Anthony Solometo, along with infielder Andres Alvarez, were...

Luis Ortiz continued to make a case for a spot in the starting rotation, and Paul Skenes continued to showed off his triple-digit heater, but his first hit allowed in spring training was a home run off a 100 mph fastball. The Pittsburgh Pirates padded a lead for their pitchers...

The most troubling sign for the Pittsburgh Pirates wasn’t that right-handed reliever Dauri Moreta surrendered a three-run homer in the ninth inning Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles. It was that after Moreta spiked a slider in the dirt, he clutched his right elbow. And his next pitch, a full-count fastball,...

A tough catcher and respected leader for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 1979 World Series champions, Ed Ott never missed a chance to celebrate a reunion with his old “We Are Family” teammates. “It’s still a family. It doesn’t matter what ball field or city or country we’re in,” Ott said in...

Martin Perez asked Pittsburgh Pirates pitching coach Oscar Marin for more time in live bullpens before he made his first spring training start, vowing that he would be ready. Perez lived up to his promise. The left-hander mixed his cutter and changeup to allow only one hit — albeit a...

BRADENTON, Fla. — Nick Gonzales takes pride in being the first draft pick for the Pittsburgh Pirates under general manager Ben Cherington, though he’s careful not to dwell on the distinction. Gonzales would prefer to be known as the Pirates’ starting second baseman. Not just on Opening Day but beyond....

Henry Davis continues to make a strong impression on the Pittsburgh Pirates, whether or not he’s swinging the bat. Davis crushed his second home run of spring training in the first inning and drew a bases-loaded walk to drive in another run in a five-run fifth, showing why the catcher...

BRADENTON, Fla. — John Wehner didn’t need defensive analytics or awards to prove what his eyes were telling him when he called Ke’Bryan Hayes the best defensive third baseman he’d ever seen. But Wehner was going out on a limb, as Hayes was only a rookie for the Pittsburgh Pirates...

BRADENTON, Fla. — Bryan Reynolds took play-by-play announcer Greg Brown’s “clear the deck” home run call to another level. Reynolds smashed a cannonball that sailed over the deck and left field bleachers and out of LECOM Park, his second shot this week that left the ballpark. It inspired Jared Triolo...

BRADENTON, Fla. — When the Pittsburgh Pirates played their Grapefruit League home opener, Jack Suwinski found his name in the same spot of the batting order as he was at the end of last September. Pirates manager Derek Shelton had Suwinski hitting cleanup, behind Oneil Cruz, Bryan Reynolds and Ke’Bryan...

SARASOTA, Fla. — As baseball’s top overall and pitching prospects, they needed no introductions to the diehards. They got them from the public address announcer anyway. Now pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Paul Skenes. Leading off for the Baltimore Orioles, Jackson Holliday. The highly anticipated showdown marked the beginning of...