Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: Many roster decisions might already be made for the Pirates

The Pittsburgh Pirates are down to the final days of training camp, with exhibition games Monday and Wednesday against the Cleveland Indians before making final decisions on the 30-man Opening Day roster.

Most of the decisions were made for them.

The Pirates started training camp at PNC Park with 39 players, after relief pitcher Edgar Santana was suspended for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. With Jameson Taillon out for the season but included in the camp count, they actually had 38 players competing for 30 spots.

Then pitcher Hector Noesi opted out, and relievers Miguel Del Pozo and Geoff Hartlieb were sent to the alternate training camp in Altoona. That left the Pirates with 35 players.

But closer Keone Kela, reliever Blake Cederlind and third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes have yet to practice. Cederlind was confirmed to have tested positive for covid-19. The reason for Kela’s absence is undisclosed but he was placed on the 10-day injured list. And Pirates manager Derek Shelton announced Sunday that Hayes, the team’s top position prospect, also has tested positive for covid-19.

That reduced the number of available players to 33.

When Shelton revealed Friday that right fielder Gregory Polanco tested positive for covid-19, the Pirates were down to 32. Then backup catcher Luke Maile was lost for the season to surgery on his right index finger, making it 31.

So, it’s a matter of making some moves to add players to the 40-man roster and whether Shelton prefers to keep more pitchers than position players or to draw it even at 15 of each.

And he’s not ready to reveal that.

So we’ll play the guessing game.

I’ve been waiting a while to manage a game with that skyline as the backdrop.

Man this place is beautiful.

We’ll do it for real here in a few days and I can’t wait! #LetsGoBucs pic.twitter.com/xQIjl3G6R6

— Derek Shelton (@derekshelton) July 19, 2020

1. Who’s left: The Pirates have Jacob Stallings and John Ryan Murphy at catcher, Josh Bell at first base, Adam Frazier at second base, Kevin Newman at shortstop and Colin Moran at third base, with Phillip Evans, Erik Gonzalez, Jose Osuna, JT Riddle and Cole Tucker capable of playing multiple positions. The outfield consists of Bryan Reynolds, Jarrod Dyson and Guillermo Heredia and Socrates Brito.

The starting rotation will feature Joe Musgrove, Trevor Williams, Mitch Keller, Derek Holland, with Steven Brault and Chad Kuhl pitching piggyback early on.

The bullpen would consist of Nick Burdi, Kyle Crick, Robbie Erlin, Michael Feliz, Clay Holmes, Dovydas Neverauskas, Richard Rodriguez, Chris Stratton and Nik Turley.

And then there’s JT Brubaker.

Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

Pirates pitcher JT Brubaker works on his pickoff move during practice Monday, July 13, 2020 at PNC Park.

2. Call a taxi: The Pirates are short on catchers and outfielders, so Brubaker could be the odd man out given that he’s being stretched out as a starter.

Then again, he could work out of the bullpen. That’s what Brubaker will do at Cleveland on Monday night, along with Feliz, Crick, Rodriguez, Stratton and Erlin.

Where things could get interesting is to see what the Pirates do with their taxi squad.

If they carry a third catcher, it will likely be Andrew Susac. If they carry extra position players, it could come down to one of the three called up for Saturday’s game at PNC Park: first baseman Will Craig, shortstop Oneil Cruz and outfielder Jason Martin. It might depend on which position has the greatest need.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington all but ruled out signing a free agent or making a trade … but that was before Maile’s injury.

Nothing like @MeLlamoTrevor on the headset from Summer Camp. pic.twitter.com/XD1gSb3GDk

— Pirates (@Pirates) July 19, 2020

3. Spilled beans: Shelton was set to announce that Trevor Williams will pitch Monday at Cleveland and then throw the second game of the opening weekend series on Saturday afternoon at St. Louis.

One problem: Williams already let it slip.

Williams shared that news with Greg Brown Saturday night on AT&T SportsNet’s coverage of the exhibition opener.

“It’s funny when I talked to Trevor and I told him that I was going to lead with the fact that he was going to pitch Game 2, he was like, ‘Yeah, I think I might have already said that,’” Shelton said.

“That was actually going to be my cool ‘News of the Day.’ But when I told him (Sunday) that I was going to say that to (the media), he was like, ‘OK, I think that may be already out.’”

Pirates simulating the 10th inning, with Guillermo Heredia at second base, Clay Holmes on the mound and Cole Tucker in center field — with 1B/OF coach Tarrik Brock standing nearby. pic.twitter.com/dAZVCel3KR

— Kevin Gorman (@KevinGormanPGH) July 19, 2020

4. Look at me: Shelton also shared what we have watched in practice at PNC Park, that “there’s a strong chance” Tucker will play in the outfield Monday night against Cleveland.

Over the weekend, the Pirates had the shortstop taking part in outfield drills to compensate for Polanco’s absence and the shortage at the position. Tucker has worked in right and center, where he and outfield coach Tarrik Brock spent time on Sunday.

Shelton said the Pirates will try Tucker at all three outfield spots, and bench coach Don Kelly is impressed by how quickly Tucker has adapted to playing new positions for the first time in his career.

“What an athlete he is. Just watching him move around the outfield, he’s going to be great out there,” Kelly said, noting that Tucker showed his versatility by playing second base on Saturday. “There’s some really special things that he can do, and this will just help him. Just reiterating, like, ‘Shortstop is your position. You’re not going to lose that. You have to focus on maintaining that.’ But it will help him and help the team to be able to be more versatile. There’s no doubt in my mind that he can play outfield.”

Nothing better than a game of tag. pic.twitter.com/ysFpywlx3m

— Pirates (@Pirates) July 19, 2020

5. Rundown: Tucker was the lone fielder in center when the Pirates put relievers Holmes and Turley on the mound and a runner on second base Sunday to practice MLB’s new 10th inning rule that starts extra innings with a runner in scoring position.

“We needed to simulate it,” Shelton said. “It gave our right-handed hitters some chance to work on it. It gave our baserunners a little chance to be on it.”

The Pirates also practiced rundowns. In spring training, they used minor leaguers. This time, it was with coaches. An elusive Shelton had the Pirates going back and forth before getting tagged out.

“Once we get moving one way, we can’t move the other way,” Shelton said. “I found that out the hard way.”