Bucs open training camp with fewer questions than past 2 years
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates opened spring training Saturday with fewer questions to answer than in manager Lloyd McClendon’s first two seasons. Although the Pirates will have 65 players competing for 25 spots, McClendon already knows the makeup of much of his team.
Four jobs in the pitching rotation are set, the bullpen has just one vacancy among seven spots and the only unsettled position is center field.
“It’s the first time I’ve had luxury of saying that,” McClendon said. “It’s the first sign of being a good team when you come to spring training and don’t have seven, eight or nine spots open.”
The Pirates are trying to improve on a 72-89 record that gave them a fourth-place finish in the National League Central. In 2001, McClendon’s first season, the Pirates were 62-100 and tied for the worst record in the major leagues.
Among the team’s offseason acquisitions are first baseman Randall Simon, right fielder Matt Stairs, starting pitcher Jeff Suppan and reliever Matt Herges. The Pirates also signed a handful of veteran pitchers to minor-league contracts.
“Talent-wise, this is as far along as we’ve been in my three years,” McClendon said. “It’s encouraging to see so many players with major-league service time in camp.”
The hottest competition will be for the fifth starter’s spot.
Brian Meadows and Salomon Torres finished last season in the rotation, but the addition of Suppan means one pitcher won’t make the cut. They will also get competition from non-roster invitees Jeff D’Amico, Rolando Arrojo, Dennys Reyes and Julian Tavarez.
Contrast that to last season when McClendon gave 12 pitchers a chance to claim one of the five spots in the rotation.
“Last year, we didn’t know what we had,” McClendon said.
Young pitchers Kip Wells and Josh Fogg won jobs in spring training last year and Kris Benson returned from injury, giving the Pirates a solid core of starters heading into this year’s camp.
McClendon watched 31 pitchers and nine catchers go through the team’s first spring workout Saturday.
The first injury of the spring was Arrojo, who tweaked his right hamstring while covering first base during a pitching drill. He is listed as day to day.
Catcher Humberto Cota, who had surgery in January to repair a fractured bone in his left hand, was cleared to play and took batting practice off a tee. He won’t begin catching for five to seven days.
Two pitchers did not participate in drills. Tavarez got lost on his way to camp and didn’t arrive until a half hour remained in the workout. He was excused from throwing. Rookie right-hander Duaner Sanchez was not in camp because of a family emergency in the Dominican Republic. The Pirates expect him to report either Monday or Tuesday.