OK, just one more. (It’s hard to resist when the Pirates are playing better.)
The Pirates had a couple key players do what they’re supposed to do as they won their third straight, 7-4, over Minnesota.
Mitch Keller looked like, of all things, an opening day starter. He fanned seven with no walks over four and two-thirds. The only blip was one longball.
The bullpen had its ups and downs, which is probably a hint at the sorting-out that management is going to have to do for much of the season. Jose Hernandez had a poor-command day, giving up two hits and a walk in his inning, but he escaped with only one run allowed.
Carmen Mlodzinski hit his first roadblock of the season, as the first five hitters he faced reached on three hits and two walks. He got a strikeout with the bases loaded and nobody out, and then departed. Cam Alldred obligingly came on to fan a pair, limiting the damage to two runs.
Wil Crowe loaded the bases in his inning, but escaped unharmed. Colin Holderman finished the proceedings with an easy ninth, with the game ending on a pitch clock violation. The only other appearance was Yohan Ramirez, who struck out the last batter in the fifth. The Pirates fanned 13 altogether.
The offense managed to produce despite 14 Ks of its own. Ke’Bryan Hayes continued an encouraging spring, lasering his third longball to give the Pirates the lead, following a double by Bryan Reynolds. Hopeful factoid from Alex Stumpf:
In his regular season career, Ke’Bryan Hayes had two home runs that had an exit velo of 106 mph or higher.
He has hit three home runs over 106 mph this spring (106.9, 107.1, 108.2).
The competition continued to heat up, especially in the outfield. Canaan Smith-Njigba had a double in three trips. Travis Swaggerty came in as a sub and blasted his third homer, a bomb that was the longest by the Pirates this spring in games covered by Statcast. Mark Mathias played the outfield and had a double, and Miguel Andujar started at first and contributed a walk and a sacrifice fly. Chavez Young rejoined the team and went 0-for-2. Cal Mitchell was retired his only time up.
In the second base race, Rodolfo Castro fanned his first two times up but then got an RBI single. Tucupita Marcano entered late and drew a walk.
So, on the whole, the position player battle is mostly moving forward while the bullpen battle is shuffling sideways.
