Good morning from Pirate City.
— There are no bullpens scheduled for the pitchers today. Instead, they will be working on drills and taking batting practice, working on bunts and slug bunts, etc.
— Tomorrow, the pitchers will start throwing live BP to the Pirates hitters.
— Position players are to report by the end of today. Chase d’Arnaud, Gorkys Hernandez and Gustavo Nunez (DL) were at Pirate City this morning. The only player I have yet to see is Anderson Hernandez.
— Pirates President Frank Coonely faces DUI charges, the Trib reports.
Both Coonelly and Bob Nutting issued statements this afternoon:
Statement from Pirates President Frank Coonelly:
My actions that evening were irresponsible and wrong. I take full and sole responsibility for them. There is no excuse for ever driving under the influence of alcohol. My wife and I have preached to our children about the dangers of driving while under the influence of alcohol, not only for themselves but for the innocent drivers, passengers and pedestrians on the road. I am embarrassed that I failed to follow this advice myself on this occasion and extremely grateful no one was injured or adversely affected by this serious lapse of judgment.
I have personally apologized to my wife and children, to Bob Nutting and to all of those at the Pirates organization who work so tirelessly for the Club. I would also like to apologize to all of the fans and friends of the Pittsburgh Pirates. My conduct that night was uncharacteristic to my personally held values and not who I am.
I will learn from this serious lapse of judgment and support the efforts of those groups that work to prevent the tragedies that can result from driving under the influence.
Statement from Pirates Chairman of the Board Bob Nutting:
First and foremost, I am thankful nobody was injured.
Frank called me immediately to personally apologize for the mistakes he had made. I expressed my extreme disappointment in his actions. I know that, through our discussion, he clearly understands the seriousness of his poor decisions, the harm that could have been inflicted on others and the embarrassment his mistakes have caused the organization.
In the years I have gotten to know Frank personally I have learned that he is a dedicated husband and father who has strong values that are grounded in his family, religion and hard work. These mistakes are not characteristic of the man that I know and I am confident he has learned from them.
–Chase d’Arnaud, on his first day of spring training, took grounders at shortstop along with Jordy Mercer. Nick Evans and Matt Hague worked on fielding at first, and Josh Harrison and Yamaico Navarro were at second base.
