Mailbag: Spring Training info, Hunter Stratton, Playoff?
Another mailbag article, with questions on Spring Training, Hunter Stratton, and making the playoffs.
Todd Schneider (statscbl): When and where can a fan find out when and where the Pirates will be practicing each day of spring training? I am guessing some are open and some are closed. Is it a day-to-day decision?
WTM can probably elaborate more in the comments on the general process during camp and Spring Training, but the Pirates website does have this article going over some general FAQs that may be helpful.
Mike Breuninger: What’s the organizations plans for Hunter Stratton? Will he begin the season at AAA? Do you think he will join the big club again in 2024?
I was surprised that the Pirates DFA when they did because I thought he pitched well to be in contention for a bullpen spot going into this year.
All worked out well, as they were able to resign him to a minor-league contract. He’ll fight a little more of an uphill battle since he will need a roster spot to make Opening Day, but even if he doesn’t, I fully expect him to find his way back to Pittsburgh in 2024.
The cutter worked well for him in Triple-A, and while it was a small sample size in Pittsburgh, it also graded out well.
JoeSolo: With a very good bullpen and marginal starting pitching what do the Pirates, besides luck and a lot of it, to make the playoffs?
I think a lot of luck is needed to make the playoffs in general, even with the added teams. It’s 162 games, a lot can happen. Injuries happen, and players regress and improve without any signs sometimes.
The current build of this Pirates’ team will need a lot of their younger guys to step up. Alex Stumpf (congrats on him for landing at MLB.com) was on NS9 last week and mentioned if they can hold out (the rotation) for a couple of months, they have a lot of reinforcements on the way - either prospects or players returning from injury.
Henry Davis seems to be the key. They’ll need Ke’Bryan to hit like he did towards the end of last year and Oneil Cruz to be that guy.
Basically, they need a lot to go right, and it feels like they are going all-in on their approach here.
If it pays off, there’s playoff potential, if it doesn’t, whelp, it’s going to be another long year.
The Pirates will start practicing at Pirate City on Feb 14. They move to LECOM for exhibitions, I think starting the day before the first game. Unless something changes, PC is always open to the public, except the indoor areas. Things usually get moving at 10am, although sometimes there may be a meeting or something inside. LECOM is only open when the gates open an hour before game time.
Once the major leaguers leave PC, the minor leaguers take over. Often there’ll be some major leaguers still getting work there, especially once MiL exhibitions start in mid-March.
did we just sign a guy named "sadsuck" ?