Day 13 of Pirates spring training: news and notes
- The Pirates will face the Tampa Bay Rays again on Sunday. This time, however, they will play at McKechnie Field.
Kevin Correia will start for the Bucs followed by Brian Burres, who will pitch two innings as well. Joel Hanrahan, Joe Beimel, Jose Veras, Tony Watson and Chris Leroux will all pitch one inning.
- Manager Clint Hurdle’s top of the order on Saturday was: Jose Tabata, Neil Walker, Andrew McCutchen and Pedro Alvarez, but it could be one of the many possible lineups this season.
It’s one of many,” Hurdle said. “It’s the one we threw out there today. We all pretty much understand what Andrew can do at the top of the lineup. We need to look at what we can do to stretch out lineup, to become more diverse and dynamic. We need to score more runs than we did last year. I do believe he has the skill to hit third. We’ll see how it plays out.”
- Reliever Daniel Moskos has learned a lot from last season and says he’s ready to play in the big leagues.
“I’m a way better pitcher now, having had the two years of starting experience,” Moskos said. “I had to work through some kinks. I had to deal with a downgrade in stuff, and learn how to pitch and develop a third pitch. Those are weapons and things I’m going to take forward that can’t be replaced. I had to go through that.”
“I’ve matured and learned a lot over the past three seasons — last year, especially,” Moskos said. “I’ve had to grow up and mature a lot. It doesn’t always work out the way you plan. I feel ready.”