Pirates/MLB category, Page 155

Monday’s “First Call” examines the alleged level of interest in Steelers receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster before he decided to stay in Pittsburgh. Specifically, from the Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles. Alex Highsmith has a plan to replace Bud Dupree at outside linebacker. And at least one outlet seems to think that...

Wil Crowe didn’t mind talking baseball Sunday afternoon, but he preferred to keep the conversation focused on his outing against the Boston Red Sox. He was the starting pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 9-4 victory at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla., working 3 2/3 innings and allowing one run,...

The Pittsburgh Pirates took a low-risk chance on knuckleball pitcher Steven Wright on Sunday, signing him to a minor-league contract, with an invitation to big-league camp. It sounds like just another spring training transaction until you hear the rest of the story. Five years ago, Wright was considered a promising...

In the thick of the shortstop competition with Kevin Newman and Erik Gonzalez, Cole Tucker has found Newman’s play to be infectious. Tucker is so convinced Newman’s hot bat can be contagious that he joked about following his Pittsburgh Pirates teammate around the cafeteria to see what he’s eating for...

When the Pittsburgh Pirates finished last in the major leagues in on-base and slugging percentages and in the bottom five of most other major offensive categories, Rick Eckstein took it personally. How could he not? The Pirates finished with the worst record in baseball, had a pair of starting outfielders...

The alarming part for the Pittsburgh Pirates wasn’t that Steven Brault allowed allowed three hits, threw two wild pitches and hit a batter in the first two innings Friday night against the Baltimore Orioles. It was that the left-hander threw only 33 pitches in his fourth start before he was...

Start with the premise that spring training statistics are meaningless and don’t translate to the regular season, that a hot start is more symbolic of hitters being ahead of pitchers who are fine-tuning a grip or delivery. Then consider that batters also have spent the offseason working on their stance...

After some serious soul searching, Chase De Jong decided he wasn’t ready to quit baseball. But he had nowhere to train, and no one to train with. That brought about a my-way-or-the-highway moment. The Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher’s way hadn’t worked. De Jong had gone from second-round draft pick by the...

I expect Steelers fans to get froggy with me this time of year. I’m used to it. Every March, I tell you the Steelers roster is in decline. You call me “hater” and say Mike Tomlin has never had a losing season. I tell you they’ve gone eight out of...

The stuff is good. The execution is poor. That was the brief but dead-on description of Mitch Keller’s pitching from Pittsburgh Pirates bullpen coach Justin Meccage during Wednesday’s Grapefruit League game against the Tampa Bay Rays. The right-hander continued his spring struggles as he was knocked around for eight runs...

Todd Tomczyk recognized something was wrong with Blake Cederlind when the Pittsburgh Pirates reliever walked a batter with the bases loaded against the New York Yankees on March 10. The 25-year-old right-hander left the game with two outs in the eighth inning and was later determined to have a strain...

For as much as Derek Shelton detests any discussion midway through spring training of who will be the closer, it’s because that decision is on the backburner for the Pittsburgh Pirates manager. “When you tell me who’s in our bullpen I’ll have that answer for you because I have no...

In hopes of opening up more seating at PNC Park for fans after Gov. Tom Wolf eased covid-19 restrictions at venues, the Pittsburgh Pirates announced that they are delaying their general public ticket sale planned for Wednesday. The Pirates had planned to sell all remaining tickets for the first 12...

Kevin Newman has been vocal about trying to reclaim the starting job at shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates, but he’s letting his bat do most of the talking. Newman continued his hot streak at the plate this spring by going 3-for-4, scoring a run and driving in another as the...

The Pittsburgh Pirates made their first cuts of spring training, optioning five players and reassigning 10 others to minor league camp. The most notable moves involve four of their top-five prospects, optioning infielder Oneil Cruz and reassigning their past two first-round picks, infielder Nick Gonzales and right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester....

Quinn Priester had many things running through his mind during his first Grapefruit League game Monday, from wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform to hearing the starting lineups announced to seeing fans in the stands at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota. “There’s an added adrenaline and excitement with being in a...

Tyler Anderson was still in spring training mode, feeling his way through his delivery when Austin Hays and Freddy Galvis hit back-to-back home runs off the Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander. That forced Anderson to switch into regular-season mode in an outing he believed was better than it looked on the scoresheet:...

Living the life of a starting pitcher, Trevor Cahill knows what it feels like to fall short of expectations and suffer through the next five days before you can do something about it. It can be a mental grind. But Cahill, 33, can be labeled a survivor in baseball terms,...

When he walks to the mound for a spring training game, Steven Brault fills his head with three purposes: • Renewing familiarity with hitters he hasn’t seen since last season. • Rebuilding his arm strength for the next six months. • Taking it on the chin, if necessary. The Pittsburgh...

Duane Underwood Jr. spent his first 8½ years as a professional with one organization. Joining the Pittsburgh Pirates was a whole lot of new — but not without some familiar faces. “I actually knew a few of the guys just from working out in offseason and just being around the...

Adam Frazier is eager to put a rare “off” season behind him. So far this spring, he appears well on his way. A three-hit outing during a 7-5 loss at the New York Yankees on Saturday bumped Frazier’s average up to .667 through four games after a delayed start to...

Right-hander Chase De Jong continued to make his case as a darkhorse candidate for the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitching three shutout innings of a 2-1 win against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday in Bradenton, Fla. A 27-year-old former second-round pick of the Blue Jays signed as a minor league free...

Buried in the final paragraph of a team release to officially announce the previously reported signing of veteran pitcher Trevor Cahill was some ominous-sounding news regarding the future of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen. Blake Cederlind was placed on the 60-day injured list because of a potentially serious injury to his...

Ke’Bryan Hayes, Mitch Keller and others who figure to be long-term pieces of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ rebuild agreed to terms on contracts for the 2021 season, the organization announced Friday. Third baseman Hayes and starting pitcher Keller are among 30 pre-arbitration players who agreed to salaries at or near the...

When Derek Shelton self-assessed his rookie season as Pittsburgh Pirates manager, his greatest regret was the moves he didn’t make. Shelton wishes his team had been more aggressive in not only stealing bases but also situational running like 3-2 counts and hit-and-runs. If the Pirates look different on the basepaths...