Kevin Gorman stories, Page 98

The Pittsburgh Pirates lost catcher Luke Maile for the season when he underwent surgery Friday for a fractured right index finger, a day after being hit by a pitch in an intrasquad game. Maile’s surgery was performed by Dr. Edward Birdsong at Allegheny Health Network in Wexford. Maile is expected...

Through a tumultuous season followed by a difficult offseason, Kyle Crick has found “a driving force” as a relief pitcher whose role could become even more important for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Crick’s rollercoaster 2019 season, which ended with a fractured index finger from a fistfight, was only a prelude to...

The Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the first major sporting event in Pittsburgh since March 10 — a 129-day stretch — but there were no fans for their exhibition game against Cleveland on Saturday night at PNC Park. There were, however, plenty of cheers. The Pirates have been playing training camp intrasquad...

Upon being named Opening Day starter for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Joe Musgrove’s mind couldn’t help but drift to the man who shared his love of baseball and pushed him to chase his dream of playing in the majors. “I just think about how proud my dad probably is right now,”...

The Pittsburgh Pirates’ starting lineup suffered a big blow with the announcement Gregory Polanco has tested positive for covid-19, which threatens to force the right fielder to miss the start of the season. Pirates manager Derek Shelton confirmed the positive test Friday afternoon after receiving consent from Polanco to go...

The Pittsburgh Pirates placed closer Keone Kela on the 10-day injured list, according to MLB transactions. The 27-year-old right-hander has not participated in training camp for undisclosed reasons. Kela was ordained the closer by new Pirates manager Derek Shelton at the outset of spring training at Pirate City in Bradenton,...

One of the most uncomfortable interactions with coaches involves asking why a player didn’t participate in practice, attempting to clarify whether it’s for a disciplinary, illness, injury or personal matter. Derek Shelton won’t discuss it. Because he can’t discuss it. That’s the reality of the covid-19 sportsworld, when teams aren’t...

When it comes to covid-19 testing, Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Ben Cherington is impressed with how MLB has implemented the health and safety protocols in training camp. That’s especially true for those tested most frequently: Players and coaches. Cherington credited the league for being proactive with adjustments to the system...

General manger Ben Cherington warned that the Pittsburgh Pirates probably won’t add any new players to their 30-man major league roster through free agency or trades before next week’s season opener at St. Louis, despite having the third-lowest payroll in the majors. “I would expect that the players who are...

The Zoom interview with Jarrod Dyson wavered from candid to cliche as the Pittsburgh Pirates center fielder touched on a number of baseball-related topics and showed his jovial and jaded sides. A serious question to Dyson, however, received a serious response. And it was as powerful as it was provocative....

The Pittsburgh Pirates are adding No. 1 draft pick Nick Gonzales to their alternate training site in Altoona, paving the way for the former New Mexico State shortstop to play professional baseball this summer. Gonzales is awaiting results from a covid-19 test before he can practice, his father Mike Gonzales...

When Jarrod Dyson homered in Monday night’s intrasquad game, Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton joked it was fun to watch the “fastest guy running around the bases in the big leagues.” After striking out in his first three at-bats, Dyson cracked that he was just trying to “get off the...

Another day of training camp saw another intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, but the Pittsburgh Pirates showed off some potential storylines for the start of the season. Josh Bell crushed a homer. Joe Musgrove was humming. The pitching piggyback made its debut. Jarrod Dyson rounded the bases, too. The best news...

As weird as it was to see baseball back last week with Pittsburgh Pirates in training camp at PNC Park, it’s even weirder to watch them play games without fans in the stands. Even if it’s only an intrasquad game. And we have baseball at PNC Park.Intrasquad baseball.But baseball nonetheless....

From the first pitchers meeting of spring training, Oscar Marin made an immediate impression on the Pittsburgh Pirates by conducting what Jameson Taillon jokingly called an Analytical Seminar for Dummies. It was something Marin simplified for himself while taking a deep dive into the analytical world of data-driven baseball, a...

The Pittsburgh Pirates have accepted that the universal designated hitter is coming to the National League, and that’s the only thing universal the Pittsburgh Pirates have accepted about the designated hitter. Manager Derek Shelton has said the Pirates will use a rotation of players as the DH instead of a...

After a top-five finish in NL Rookie of the Year voting last season, Bryan Reynolds has a simple goal for this summer that doesn’t have anything specifically to do with his statistics. “I just want to be better all the way around,” Reynolds said Friday, after an intrasquad game at...

Nick Burdi came back from Tommy John surgery to become a feel-good story for the Pittsburgh Pirates last season: the reliever who threw gas and wore black-rimmed glasses like Ricky Vaughn from the movie, “Major League.” After Burdi blew out his right arm again last April, discovering neurogenic thoracic outlet...

Gregory Polanco believes he can become the star the Pittsburgh Pirates once envisioned and is putting pressure on himself to live up to his five-tool talent. “For sure. I trust myself, I trust me, I trust the process and work that I’m putting in,” Polanco said. “I just need to...

The stands were mostly empty and the batters were his Pittsburgh Pirates teammates, so the simulated game Wednesday night wasn’t quite the same as making his major-league debut against Clayton Kershaw. It was still a thrill for Chad Kuhl to pitch at PNC Park again, throwing two innings two years...

One week after MLB announced the schedule for the 60-game 2020 season, the Pittsburgh Pirates released their 2021 schedule that will feature them playing against the Chicago Cubs on Opening Day on April 1 at Wrigley Field and in the home opener April 8 at PNC Park. And this one...

Right-handed pitcher Hector Noesi became the first Pittsburgh Pirates player to opt out from playing this season, citing family reasons, manager Derek Shelton said Wednesday night. Under an agreement between MLB and the Players Association, players are permitted to opt out this season because of the coronavirus pandemic. The 33-year-old...