Morning Rundown: Liover Peguero working on defensive versatility, Johan Oviedo, Darick Hall
News and notes from around Pirates City
One of the first acquisitions under Ben Cherington, Liover Peguero has yet to break through and establish himself as a major leaguer. He hit .237/.280/.374 with seven home runs and six stolen bases in 59 games with the Pirates in 2023 but played in just three games last year.
While traditionally a middle infielder, Peguero talked to Greg Macafee of DK Pittsburgh Sports and mentioned he had been working on expanding his defensive versatility, getting some practice in at third, first, and in the outfield.
It’s a move that could certainly help his chances of making the Opening Day roster, especially with first base wide open with the Spencer Horwitz injury.
Speaking of first base, Noah Hiles of the Post Gazette had an article on Darick Hall, who is in camp as an NRI. He now has an opportunity to seize a major league roster spot going into the season.
During the 2022 season with the Phillies, Hall hit nine home runs in 142 plate appearances.
One of the big storylines for the 2025 season is the return of Johan Oviedo, who missed last year due to Tommy John surgery. He threw today and talked to the media, which was widely covered throughout multiple outlets.
Watching Oviedo on the mound, he looks like the next Steelers tight end, not the guy competing for the fifth rotation spot.
Funny enough, the Endy Rodriguez caught him yesterday. Rodriguez missed the majority of the season due to also undergoing Tommy John surgery.
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My spring training observations are pretty thin today.
......Konnor Griffin, Konnor Griffin, Konnor Griffin!!!..... He is every bit of 6'4 and strong. I heard someone comment on how smooth his swing is. Well, I'm not sure I've seen so many line drive home runs with little lauch angle..... including one over the 380 mark.
..... If you never knew the 4 catchers (Bart, Endy, Henry, Delay), you would clearly think Endy was the veteran and the best of the 4. Batting practice, he was hitting to all field plus some home runs. In his defensive drills, he looked agile and his arm accurate. He was also the vocal leader of that coaching group.
---- The pitchers have been mostly hiding for the most part, so nothing to report there.
----- Someone mentioned yesterday that saw outfield practice, "Bae's work ethic stood out while Cruz looked a step slow"
------Another person told me a Tommy Pham story he heard from Adam Wainwright. When Pham was young and the Cardinals were scuffling, Pham stood on a table, and said "You show up late. You don't work hard enough, You don't run hard." Basically calling out teammates.
The season for optimism...after catching up on articles from various sites last night, I'm excited to see Endy, Peggy, and Oviedo, feel like Hall is interesting and glad he's getting a chance to show what he can do, and of course really looking forward to watching Bubba, and also his mentor Harrington.