Morning Rundown: Injury updates, Roansy struggles continue

The Pirates get blown out by the Blue Jays plus an injury update on several players.

Photo Credit: Ryan Palencer

Director of Sports Medicine Todd Tomczyk gave an update on several players for the Pirates on Wednesday.

• Thomas Harrington is dealing with right shoulder ‘symptoms,’ which is why he was replaced in the Spring Breakout game.

• Ji-Hwan Bae has a left hip flexor. He’s throwing and doing some ‘advanced stuff’ in the weight room.

• David Bednar will be throwing off a mound in the next few days.

• Yasmani Grandal can’t run currently due to Plantar Fasciitis. He played in some scrimmages at Pirate City, but it doesn’t look like he’s running.

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Roansy Contreras' struggles continued on Wednesday. He walked six batters in four innings pitched as the Pirates lost to the Blue Jays 10-3 in Dunedin.

He struggled almost immediately, walking two of the first three batters he faced before allowing a three-run home run to Justin Turner.

Fighting for a spot in the rotation, Contreras has 10 walks in 10.2 innings pitched this Spring. He did have a moment or two in the final two innings and showed some solid command on the outer half of the plate, but it was far too little too late.

His final walk was the fourth batter of an inning in which Oneil Cruz committed a throwing error, but the damage was already done.

Cruz also hit his fourth home run of the Spring, and four other players picked up doubles.

Prospects Eddy Rodriguez and Garret Forrester played in the game and picked up hits.

The Pirates bats struggled at times, striking out 15 times in total - nine from Blue Jays’ starter Chris Bassitt.

Hunter Stratton had another scoreless outing, and Carmen Mlodzinski allowed five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Cy Nielson rounded out the game with 1.1 innings and two strikeouts.

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Top Exit Velocity

1. Rowdy Tellez - 112.7 mph - Double

2. Oneil Cruz - 104.9 mph - Home Run

3. Garret Forrester - 104.4 mph - Single

4. Joe Perez - 101.4 mph - Fielding Error

5. Jake Lamb - 994. mph - GIDP

Pitch Velocity

1. Hunter Stratton - 96.4 mph

2. Hunter Stratton - 95.9 mph

3. Hunter Stratton - 95.8 mph

4. Hunter Stratton - 95.6 mph

5. Hunter Stratton - 95.4 mph

Most Whiffs

1. Roansy Contreras - 9 (29%)

2. Cy Nielson - 6 (37.5%)

3. Carmen Mlodzinski - 1 (11%)

4. Hunter Stratton - 1 (8.3%)

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Thursday is the Pirates' Spring Breakout game, as some of their top prospects will face prospects from the Baltimore Orioles.

Breaking down the Pirates Spring Breakout roster

The Pirates and Orioles will play their regular Spring Training matchup at 3:05 pm ET, with the expected start time of the Breakout at 7:05 pm ET.

I went over the roster for the Pirates, with the only difference being Khristian Curtis replacing Thomas Harrington.

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We publish a weekly mailbag article each Monday during the offseason and Spring Training, in which I answer all of your questions.

If you have a question, email me at bucsondeckqa@gmail, or you can ask below with ‘mailbag’ written in the comment. Email is the best way to ensure I answer your question, as the comment could get lost.

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