Phillip Evans probably didn't need to homer to make the opening day roster. But hey, a homer certainly won't hurt the cause.
In the second inning of Monday's exhibition against the Indians, Evans took a 2-2 Mike Clevinger fastball and did this to it:
"[That felt] pretty good," Evans said Tuesday during a Zoom call. "I've been waiting to get a barrel like that this whole spring 2.0."
Heck, how about a barrel like that in a major-league park. He hasn't homered yet as a major-leaguer, so that was his first in one of the 30 home parks.
That might have been a close call in PNC Park, though, with the infamous notch in left-center.
"That 410 gap is usually where I hit most of my balls, so I have to see [head strength and conditioning coach] Jim Malone in the weight room here soon," Evans joked.
For what it's worth, that home run against Clevinger went an estimated 410 feet, per Statcast. So, it would have cleared the notch. Probably.
It's the type of swing that has should make Evans, 27, officially a Pirate after bouncing around the past few years.
He spent parts of 2017 and 2018 with the Mets, but didn't get a call last year with the Cubs. He hit pretty well, slashing .283/.371/.470 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs for their AAA team, but the Cubs' roster was too tough to crack.
Evans is friends with Joe Musgrove and worked out with him during the offseason, which helped nudge him to choosing Pittsburgh as a minor-league free agent. He quickly made his presence known during spring training in Bradenton, Fla., taking Trevor Williams deep during the first live batting practice session of camp.
He kept hitting from there, and between spring training and the two exhibition games, he has recorded a .344 batting average and 1.073 OPS. Evans attributed that to the work he has done with hitting coach Rick Eckstein, who has helped him "fine-tune" his swing angle into the zone.
Now, with rosters expanded to 30 players, Evans chances of making the opening day roster seem just about certain.
"It’s definitely helped," Evans said. "I think I had a good shot on spring 1.0, but swinging it well and bouncing around the infield and some outfield, so just took whatever I was doing there and put it into the ol’ 2.0 here and having fun."
It also helps that Evans can play multiple infield positions and has started taking reps in the outfield, working with first base and outfield coach Tarrik Brock this week. With the outfield thin on depth after Gregory Polanco tested positive for COVID-19, he could see some time in right field, as well as third base behind Colin Moran.
"His versatility plays," Derek Shelton said Monday night in Cleveland. "He continues to put good swings on the baseball... I think his versatility allows us to do a lot of different things with him."
MORE FROM THE DAY IN CAMP
• Shelton confirmed that Mitch Keller will start the third game of the season on July 26 in St. Louis. Joe Musgrove will pitch game one on July 24 and Trevor Williams will go game two on July 25.
Keller had his final tune up Tuesday, starting the intrasquad game and going five innings.
"Really excited with how he threw the ball today, how efficient he was," Shelton said. "... Definitely another step of growth for him. Very excited that he will be Day 3 for us in St. Louis."
• Shelton confirmed that in Keone Kela's absence, the Pirates will not have a traditional closer.
"I think we’ll play who fits best for the situation. Like we’ve talked about, I think the last three days the relievers are the guys who are probably going to be the farthest behind, not just here but in the industry because of the three-week period. I think we’ll just make the decision best-suited to who’s available that night and the situation."
Kela was placed on the 10-day injured list last week for an undisclosed reason. He has yet to reach the field in camp.
• Cole Tucker got more work in the outfield, playing right Tuesday. His best play of the night was playing a Bryan Reynolds double off the wall well, waiting on the edge of the grass to see how it would bounce.
That catch he made in center Monday night in Cleveland is the highlight for him so far, but he has shown good instincts at the position thus far.
• The unsung hero of summer camp was Jeremy Bleich. The former major-league lefty did a little of everything in camp, filling in as the umpire sometimes or playing in the field.
And on Tuesday, he capped it off by actually getting on the mound and pitching an inning.
"Today we needed a filler inning and we wanted to get him out there so we could use him going forward if we need him for Bryan or Josh [Bell] or even if we need him for some of the left-handers to get at-bats. It was cool to see," Shelton said.
• That's it for camp. All that's left is Wednesday's exhibition against the Indians before the regular season starts in St. Louis on July 24.
It's just baseball from here on out.
