BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates' regulars looked good and hit some homers Wednesday, but the Braves staged a rally against their minor-leaguers and ultimately beat the Pirates, 9-7.
It was a split-squad day, and up in Clearwater, the Pirates lost to the Phillies, also by a score of 9-7.
Wednesday also marked the midway point of spring training, from the first workout on Feb. 12 to the first regular season game on Mar. 26.
Being around the team for most of the spring thus far and talking to players and coaches, I have a couple thoughts about Derek Shelton and Ben Cherington's first camp. And what better way to present them than five bullet points?
• The injury report has been ... mixed.
There were plenty of question marks coming in health-wise, and so far, they've been mostly positive. Nick Burdi is pumping 100-mph heaters with better lower-half mechanics. We've seen Chad Kuhl make only one appearance in a game thus far -- he will pitch Thursday, too -- but it's been nothing but good reports for him to date. Edgar Santana and Kyle Crick, two vital pieces to the bullpen, have looked like their old selves, too. The one exception is Erik Gonzalez, who slightly re-injured his left foot, but should appear in a game soon.
But for every yin, there's a yang. It's one thing for Clay Holmes to get struck by a comebacker and miss four to six weeks. That's a freak occurrence. It's another when Steven Brault suffers a nearly identical injury to the one he had last season in his throwing shoulder, which will almost certainly delay the start of his season. Chris Archer was scratched from his first spring start Feb. 24 and just threw a live batting practice Monday.
The rotation looks mostly fine right now, especially once Archer gets back on the bump, but they've lost some pitching depth for the start of the season, and they didn't have that much to start.
But hey, no coronavirus.
• Vets are making a positive impact.
It may be a sportswriter cliche, but young teams need some veteran leadership in the clubhouse.
Derek Holland, 33, was brought in on a minor-league deal in February, and after a couple encouraging outings and a few injuries, it looks like he will make the team, if not the opening day rotation. He's also had that positive demeanor Shelton is looking for, especially from a veteran.
You may remember this video from the first spring game:
Blake Cederlind is a whole mood. pic.twitter.com/fEUoJkq22z
— Pirates (@Pirates) February 22, 2020
That stunt was organized by Holland, and Blake Cederlind, who was a bit nervous going into his first major-league camp, loved it.
"It felt welcoming," Cederlind was telling me that day. "I'm comfortable around these guys. It's great."
Meanwhile, plenty of young position players have gravitated to Jarrod Dyson, who loves to talk, whether it's about baseball, being a major-leaguer or how he's going to take their money playing cards. Turns out, a lot of players like to listen, if not joke back.
“He’s just that guy you want to be around,” Cole Tucker told me.
The Pirates had vets last year, but they didn't engage with younger players the same way these two have.
• Oneil Cruz's power is legit.
Cruz was a bit of an enigma heading into camp. A 6-foot-7 shortstop who could hit the ball a mile? Sounds almost like an old-timey baseball legend, or a customized character in a video game.
But then you see him and that 80-grade power in person:
That was a fastball from a former first-rounder -- and current major-leaguer -- on the outside part of the plate.
“I think he’s one of those guys that a lot of people throughout his career are going to stand and watch him take BP," Shelton said the day that titanic blast was launched, Mar. 1.
Agreed.
He's not major-league ready yet. There have been whiffs and a couple errant throws during warm-ups, but the promise is there. And when you look at the state of the farm system, Mitch Keller is major-league ready and Ke'Bryan Hayes is not far behind. After them, the farm system has a lot of eggs in the Oneil Cruz-basket.
The jump to Class AA for a full season is going to be very telling. Right now, he's ranked somewhere between the top 30-60 prospects in the game. If he plays well, he'll be near the top next year.
• There's a different rhetoric for the pitchers.
For years, the mantra was for sinkers and low fastballs. Now, more and more players are talking about throwing up in the zone. About tunneling pitches and their spin rates, rather than getting outs on three pitches or less.
I've had a couple conversations with JT Brubaker this spring about this. He was the team's minor-league pitcher of the year in 2018 and happens to get a ton of spin on his breaking pitch, about 2,800 rpm. However, the first time I talked to him in mid-February, he said he really didn't know how to use that spin to his advantage.
In a recent conversation, he talked about how he was going to throw more fastballs up in the zone because it pairs well with how his breaking ball moves. Over the course of a couple weeks, he's figured out new ways to use his spin, rather than just being told he has good spin. That's a credit to pitching coach Oscar Marin and bullpen coach Justin Meccage.
"There's a difference between knowing how to pitch and knowing how to pitch with your strengths," Brubaker was telling me. "I think I'm learning how to do both."
• 'It's been fun as hell.'
Thank you, Tucker, for giving me the title to the final bullet.
In Shelton's spring address, he told his team to get their work in, but have fun with it, too. They're playing a game, after all.
And this may seem like overkill, but after how miserable that clubhouse was at the end of last year, seeing people smile and have fun is a definite change of pace. It was like that at the beginning of camp. It's still like that now.
"Never have we had a day so far where you had a, 'Oh, man, today sucked,' or 'Oh, wow, we really flipped the script today,' " Tucker said. "It's been really consistent. Our demeanor as a team has been consistent, win or lose. Score 10, lose by 10. We're living what we talked about, what we set out to do."
As for Shelton, I knew the answer before I asked it, but if there was ever a test of if he's still having fun, it would be after a four-hour game where he watched a lead slip away in 80-degree weather:
Not at all surprised.
• Wednesday marked Trevor Williams' best spring outing to date. The breaking and offspeed stuff was still missing the zone at times, but the fastball looked better and he was mixing pitches.
The results were better, too, with his lone blemish being a mile-long home run hit by someone named *checks notes* Peter O'Brien. He pitched three innings, allowed two hits, a run and a walk and struck out three.
"Overall, I think it went well," Williams said. "... I felt like I had a good pitch mix today. Really threw everything in every count."
• O'Brien actually homered again in the sixth off Chris Stratton. There were seven home runs in total in this one, three by the Pirates, as the wind was really blowing out to left-center. That's where Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds hit their homers, as did ...
• Tucker worked on a new swing this offseason and has continued to develop it during spring training. On Wednesday, he got a sample of the fruit of that labor:
"It felt really good," Tucker was telling me. "When it shows up in a game like that, it's really fun. If it's a double or a lineout or a homer, those are little nuggets you take home and feel good about yourself."
That was off 2019 National League rookie of the year candidate Mike Soroka, no less.
"Really good swing to hit a ball -- an 0-0 two-seamer, down and away -- that far. That was good to see," Shelton said. "No movement off the ball. Completely on the ball. Took a really good swing at it."
• The Pirates took a 7-6 lead into the ninth, but Miguel Del Pozo allowed a game-tying home run to Sean Kazmar Jr. and then loaded the bases before handing the ball off to Brandon Waddell. Waddell then promptly gave up a base hit to clinch it for the Braves.
The regulars looked fine and the minor-leaguers lost the lead late. Spring games don't matter.
• Colin Moran triple? Colin Moran triple:
• In Clearwater, many of the fringe-pitchers on the spring roster did not have a good day. Hector Noesi allowed four runs on five hits over two innings, surrendering homers to JT Realmuto and Bryce Harper. Yacksel Rios also allowed a homer to Harper, and a walk and wild pitch cost Dovydas Neverauskas a run.
As for the hitters, Adam Frazier homered in the sixth and Kevin Kramer had two hits in three trips to the plate.
• Nothing new to report after Archer threw a live batting practice Monday. Shelton anticipates having a decision on how to proceed with him either Thursday or Friday.
• Who threw today:
In Bradenton:
Trevor Williams: 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 K
Michael Feliz: 0.2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Nick Mears: 0.1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Richard Rodriguez: 1 IP, 2 K
Chris Stratton: 1 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 K
Nik Turley: 0.2 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 1 BB, 1 K
Robbie Erlin: 1.1 IP, 1 BB, 2 K
Miguel Del Pozo: 0.2 IP, 3 ER, 3 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Brandon Waddell: 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 K
In Clearwater:
Hector Noesi: 2 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Dovydas Neverauskas: 1 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Yacksel Rios: 1 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 2 K
Sam Howard: 1 IP, 2 K
Williams Jerez: 1 IP, 2 K
Montana DuRapau: 1 IP, 1 BB, 1 K
Luis Escobar: 1 IP, 2 ER, 1 H, 2 BB
