Morning Rundown: Paul Skenes, others, reassigned to minor league camp, Kyle Nicolas optioned
Pirates reassign five to minor league camp, Kyle Nicolas optioned.
The Pittsburgh Pirates sent five players to minor league camp, including 2023 first-overall pick Paul Skenes.
After being scratched from his last scheduled major league spring appearance, Skenes pitched just one inning in the Spring Breakout game.
It was known that he wasn’t going to make the team out of camp, and he will now work to get used to pitching on a professional schedule.
Carter Bins, Sergio Alcantara, Matt Gorski, and Joe Perez were also reassigned to minor league camp on Sunday.
Both Bins and Gorski had extra-base hits in Sunday’s game, with the latter hitting one of the team’s three home runs.
The Pirates also optioned Kyle Nicolas to Triple-A Indianapolis. He pitched 5.1 innings and had eight strikeouts, but he walked four and allowed five earned runs.
Backed by three more home runs, the Pirates defeated the Tampa Bay Rays by the score of 8-4.
Matt Gorski, Nick Gonzales, and Shawn Ross all went deep for the Pirates, while Connor Joe, Ke’Bryan Hayes, and Bryan Reynolds all had multiple hits.
Josh Fleming got the start and pitched well against his former team. He pitched three innings of one-run baseball, striking out three while walking just one.
Chase Anderson’s hitless inning streak finally ended. He allowed three earned runs across four innings while striking out six.
The Pirates will face the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, with Martin Perez expected to make the start.
Top Exit Velocity
Ke’Bryan Hayes - 106.9 mph - GIDP
Bryan Reynolds - 106.3 mph - Single
Alika Williams - 104.7 mph - Groundout
Edward Olivares - 104.5 mph - Double
Carter Bins - 102.9 mph - Double
Top Velocity
Justin Meis - 97.4 mph
Justin Meis - 97 mph
Justin Meis - 96.6 mph
Justin Meis - 96.4 mph
Isaac Mattson - 96 mph
Most Whiffs (Whiff%)
Chase Anderson - 15 (38%)
Josh Fleming - 5 (24%)
Justin Meis - 3 (30%)
Isaac Mattson - 1 (10%)
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T minus 10 days!
BP posted their podcast preview for the NL central. Pecota has the Bucs at 73-89, two of the three podcasters took the under. Some highlights:
-Their opinion is split on Davis hitting. They all think he’s a poor catcher.
-Cruz and Hayes are gonna have big years. They think Jack has a possibility to crater.
-Pitching is gonna be disastrous; they don’t have faith in anyone beyond Keller. They do seem to like Jared Jones. Bednar is due for a swoon.