Morning Rundown: Pirates open Spring schedule with loss to Twins
Pirates drop Spring opener 5-3 to the Minnesota Twins
The Pittsburgh Pirates opened up their 2024 Spring Training schedule with a loss to the Minnesota Twins, with a final score of 5-3.
Bailey Falter started the game and allowed two runs on four hits while striking out three in two innings pitched. His fastball sat between 90-92 and picked up four whiffs on 12 swings (between what was called his four-seam and sinker).
Jared Jones followed him up and pitched an inning of scoreless relief. He got up to 98 mph.
Josh Fleming, Jose Hernandez (3 K), Kyle Nicolas, Michael Plassmeyer, and Hunter Stratton also pitched.
Three Pirates picked up multiple hits - Gilberto Celestino, Jake Lamb, and Henry Davis - with Edward Olivares driving in a pair of runs on a triple.
The Pirates will continue their Spring Training games with their home opener in Bradenton against the Baltimore Orioles, with the first pitch expected around 1:05 pm ET.
Mitch Keller is expected to start for the Pirates.
Top Pirates’ Exit Velocity
Henry Davis - 103.8 mph - Single
Termarr Johnson - 102.6 mph - Flyout
Edward Olivares - 102 - Triple
Top Pirates’ Velocity
Jared Jones - 98.9 mph
Jared Jones - 98.8 mph
Jared Jones - 98.2
Most Swings and Misses
Bailey Falter - 4
Jared Jones - 3
Jose Hernandez - 3
Hunter Stratton - 3
If you missed it yesterday, NolaJeffy, WTM, and I contributed to the 2024 Pittsburgh Pirates Minor League Guide, which Draft Nation put out. You can pick up a copy by clicking the link below. Both paperback and Kindle versions are available for order.
Each week, we run a mailbag article where we answer all of your questions. You can ask below with ‘mailbag’ written in the comments or email me at bucsondeckqa@gmail.com.
Email is the easiest way to ensure the question isn’t lost in the shuffle of things.
I have to give thanks to the readers here for the great sales over the first 44 or so hours of the minor league guide being on sale. The book currently ranks 1st and 3rd on the Amazon charts for new baseball books. The paperback version is 1st and Kindle is 3rd. Not gonna lie, I thought the Kindle would do better, at least at the start with the book releasing right before the opening game and TV opener today, so it's a pleasant surprise to see paperback still in style.
I'm sure plenty of people here purchased it in one form already, so thank you. We wanted to make this a yearly project, so first-year sales are important, and you guys are coming through for us to make that happen.
In triblive writeup:
"It all starts with Henry, swinging 3-0 with confidence and hitting the ball hard,” Smith-Njigba said. “There’s not a lot of people who work harder than Henry. Obviously, Henry has a future and he embraces it. He goes out there and plays hard. His effort is always there. He wants to be the best, and we’re here to help him get there because he truly is a bad man. He really wants to win. I feel like he can help the Pirates win baseball games.”
At the end of the article, Falter referred to him as "a monster."
Obviously teammates have bought into what he's about.