Pirates face Rays in Grapefruit league opener

The Pirates will face the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday at 1:05 PM.

Charlie Morton will be taking the mound against David Price in Port Charlotte in the Grapefruit league opener. Morton will pitch two innings, followed by Brad Lincoln who will also pitch two innings.

This gives the staff a good look at both starters who are in the running for the 5^th spot in the rotation.

So what is pitching coach Ray Searage looking for? “All I’m looking for right now is the aggressive approach, first-pitch strikes and attacking the bottom of the zone.”

They will be followed by Chris Resop, Daniel Moskos, Daniel McCutchen and Justin Thomas and Cesar Valdez, who will all pitch one inning each.

 

Here is the Pirates starting lineup:

Jose Tabata 7

Neil Walker 4

Andrew McCutchen 8

Pedro Alvarez 5

Matt Diaz 9

Lyle Overbay 3

Ryan Doumit DH

Chris Snyder 2

Ronny Cedeno 6

Charlie Morton 1

 

The Rays starting lineup:

John Jaso 2

Johnny Damon 7

Evan Longoria 5

Manny Ramirez DH

Ben Zobrist 9

BJ Upton 8

Dan Johnson 3

Sean Rodriguez 4

Reid Brignac 6

David Price 1

 

The Pirates will be facing Ace David Price of the Rays. He went 19-6 with a 2.72 ERA last season.

“The guy on the mound tomorrow can spin it a little bit, he’s got some plus [velocity],” manager Clint Hurdle said on Friday. “We could be behind a little bit. So you just got to wait and show up and find out what’s going to happen.”

The starters will most likely play five innings, two at-bats each.