The Pittsburgh Pirates announced their list of non-roster invites to Spring Training on Friday afternoon. It’s a list of 28 players, which includes numerous top prospects, including 2021 first overall pick Henry Davis, 2020 first round picks Nick Gonzales (7th overall and Carmen Mlodzinski (31st overall) and 2019 first round pick Quinn Priester.
We have announced the following players will attend Major League camp as non-roster invitees. pic.twitter.com/Bj6LkOtcCo
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) March 11, 2022
As you would expect here, there will be a lot of catchers on this list. The Pirates only have one catcher on their 40-man roster, Roberto Perez. With so many pitchers in camp, they will need the extra backstops. Taylor Davis was released by the Pirates in November, so this serves as his announced re-signing with the team. The 32-year-old has played parts of four seasons in the majors, including two games with the 2021 Pirates. Michael Perez was the primary backup for the Pirates last year, while Jamie Ritchie was a free agent signing prior to the lockout and he’s played parts of three seasons in Triple-A. Those three, for now, are the top choices for the backup spot in the majors this season.
The rest of the list includes our choices for the 2021 Pitcher of the Year (Adrian Florencio) and 2021 Player of the Year (Matt Fraizer). Kyle Nicolas was acquired in the Jacob Stallings trade, while Ji-hwan Bae, Michael Burrows and Endy Rodriguez are among the top prospects in the system.
Besides catchers, the only one here with a real chance to make the majors from camp on Opening Day seems to be Jerad Eickhoff, who has played parts of six seasons in the majors, including 2021 with the New York Mets. He was signed before the lockout went into place. Almost everyone listed above has already been in minor league camp for about two weeks.
