The Pirates got some early offense and beat Tampa Bay at LECOM Park, 6-2. It’s the first time this spring they’ve won two straight.
(NOTE: I’m mostly going to be unavailable for a couple of weeks, so there may not be many more recaps, at least from me.)
What little offense the Pirates have had this spring has mostly come from the late-inning substitutes, so today was something new. Ji-Man Choi launched his first Pirate home run, Canaan Smith-Njigba hit his second of the spring, and Ji-Hwan Bae doubled in a run. The Pirates got five in the first three innings. There was nothing after that except for a massive blast by Mason Martin over the batter’s eye in center, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.
The job competitions seem to be down to Connor Joe, Smith-Njigba and Travis Swaggerty for one or two outfield bench spots, and Bae and Rodolfo Castro for second. Smith-Njigba, Joe and Castro each went 1-for-3 today, Bae 1-for-2. Bae also got hit by a pitch, as the Pirates managed to amass four of those without Henry Davis even playing. Swaggerty didn’t play in this one.
Nick Gonzales got a hit late and is batting .409. The fact that he hasn’t been reassigned yet may show the Pirates like what they’re seeing and want to keep an eye on things.
The surprise starter, Osvaldo Bido, put up two scoreless and hitless innings, walking one and striking out four. I don’t totally trust gameday’s pitch IDs, but Bido seems to have thrown some assortment of fastballs, sinkers and sliders/cutters, with the harder stuff around 94-95 mph. Chase De Jong had an easy inning after Bido, fanning two as the Pirates struck out 15 total.
The bullpen situation seems to get more confusing rather than less. Angel Perdomo alternates between frustrating and promising. He struck out the side in his inning, except he served up a gopher ball, so he’s fanned six of the last seven hitters he’s faced, but still allowed a run. Yerry De Los Santos, on the other hand, just hasn’t looked good. He gave up a longball for the other run and his velocity is still down.
Meanwhile, Dauri Moreta threw one inning, fanning two, and has yet to be scored upon this spring. Lefty Daniel Zamora had a perfect inning, throwing sliders on nine of 14 pitches. Cody Bolton put up two perfect innings, throwing 19 of 26 pitches for strikes. All these guys are probably in the running.
