Results tagged ‘ corey wimberly ’
Pirates strike out in 5-0 loss to the Blue Jays
The Pirates struck a total of 13 times on Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays at McKechnie Field.
No player struck out more than once. That’s a pretty rare feat –but not in a good way.
James McDonald started for the Bucs and he had a rough time from the first pitch he threw (ball). It took him 29 pitches to get out of the first inning in which he allowed two runs, three hits, a walk and a strike out. After a 1-2-3 second, Manager Clint Hurdle pulled him in the third inning after throwing 52 pitches.
“I’ve got to focus on getting strike one,” said McDonald, who had thrown two scoreless innings his first time out. “Early innings, just I got a little out of whack.”
“I was pleased with some of the pitches I threw,” McDonald said. “Some of the results to me were good. It might not look that good out there because they hit it in play. But it was the pitch I wanted and I executed it. Things are going fine.”
Former Pirates third baseman Jose Bautista 3-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI.
The Blue Jays Ricky Romero sailed through four innings allowing one hit and no runs. He struck out six and walked two.
Notes:
- James McDonald, who is 1-for-33 at the plate lifetime, wants to have at least 10 hits this season.
“I vowed that I would get at least 10 hits,” McDonald said. “If I can be decent at hitting and at least get my bunts down, I can help this team.”
- Corey Wimberly made his first start this spring at shortstop today and it didn’t go so well. He made a bad throw to first baseman Josh Fields in the third inning which sailed over his head. The error cost the Pirates two unearned runs.
Wimberly is 0-for-12 this spring with four walks and two stolen bases. He is battling for an extra infielder spot on the roster.
“We’re just going to keep working with him,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “We ran him out for a bunch of innings and couldn’t get him a groundball and they came in bunches today. We’ve got to loosen him up a little bit so he’ll be able to pick up some rhythm and timing at short. At the end of the day, we’ve got to be able to have him at short. We’ve got to be able to have him at centerfield.”
- Aaron Thompson is quietly having himself a nice spring training. Through three innings of work he hasn’t allowed a hit, run or walk, and has struck out three.
- Joel Hanrahan had a nice outing allowing no hits or runs in the fourth inning.
- Justin Wilson bounced back from his last trip to the mound, he struck out three and walked one in the seventh.
- Gift Ngoepe, the south African player the Pirates signed in 2008, pinch hit for Jeff Locke in the 9th inning (struck out).
- The Pirates will face the Tampa Bay Rays at McKechnie field on Monday at 1:05. Ross Ohlendorf will get the start for the Bucs.
Right hander Evan Meek is scheduled to make his spring training debut tomorrow. Meek has been sidelined with a tight right calf and will pitch one inning following Ohlendorf.
Jose Veras, Tyler Yates, Michael Crotta and Daniel Moskos will follow.
Bucs beat Manatee’s 21-1
The Pirates pummeled the State College of Florida on Friday, 21-1 in an exhibition game at McKechnie Field.
The Pirates totaled 20 hits during the seven inning game in front of 1, 860 fans.
Unfortunately I was not at the game. I head down to Bradenton, Fl. on Monday at 6 am. Here are some of the highlights:
- Left-hander Aaron Thompson, who the Pirates claimed off waivers from the Washington Nationals this offseason, started for the Bucs. He pitched one inning, striking out the side.
- Steve Pearce had two doubles, a walk, three runs and four RBIs. He played first base for three innings.
- Gorkys Hernandez, who played for the Altoona Curve in 2010, had three RBI with two singles in the first three innings he played.
- Garrett Atkins went 3-for-3 with a three-run home run in the fifth inning.
- Brian Friday, who played with the Indianapolis Indians last season, hit a solo home run with two runs and a double.
- Corey Wimberly, who was acquired by the Oakland Athletics’ this offseason, went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, four runs and two walks.
- Tony Sanchez, the Pirates first round pick from the 2009 draft, went 2-for-2 with two runs, a double, and a RBI.
- Manatee had just four hits and managed to score just one run off of Tyler Yates in the second inning.
Pirates lineup against State College of Florida
The Pirates will face the State College of Florida on Friday. Here is the starting lineup for the Bucs:
Corey Wimberly 2b, Chase d’Arnaud ss, Steve Pearce 1b, John Bowker lf, Josh Fields dh, Andy Marte 3b, Andrew Lambo rf, Gorkys Hernandez cf, Wyatt Toregas c.
lhp Aaron Thompson will start and pitch the first inning.
(Photo via @EvanDrellich)
Day seven of Pirates spring training: news and notes
- Pirates owner Bob Nutting arrived in Bradenton, Fl. On Saturday night and was spotted at Pirate City On Sunday. He will be in town for two weeks.
- Sunday was photo day for the players. The pictures are used for baseball cards to media outlets. You can see a lot of pictures here at Yahoo! Sports
- The players worked on run down drills on Sunday. The outfielders played as baserunners and the pitchers joined the infielders to mimic pickoffs and rundowns.
They also worked on baserunning drills –a huge emphasis during Camp Hurdle.
The Pitchers worked on bunting and slug bunting.
- Group two of the Pirates pitching threw live batting practice on Sunday. They included: Charlie Morton, Tony Watson, Jeff Karstens, Chris Resop, Brad Lincoln, Chris Leroux, Brian Burres, Daniel McCutchen, Sean Gallagher, Cesar Valdez, Daniel Moskos, Tyler Yates, Justin Thomas, Ramon Aguero, Fernando Nieve and Bryan Morris.
- Manager Clint Hurdle spent time after practice talking about outfielder Corey Wimberly who will be fighting for a bench spot.
“This could be Corey’s time. That’s why we went out and got him. We had talked him in a couple different avenues over the winter and then we were able to make a trade for him. To his credit, delay doesn’t mean denial. He has persevered. He hasn’t taken feeling being passed over on the field with him. He’s continued to go out and do what he needs to do to make himself attractive to whatever organization has him.”
- Jeff Karstens will be filling many different roles for the Pirates this season. Although he won’t be competing for the 5th spot in the rotation, Karstens is the favorite to be called upon for long relief or to spot start.
“He matured greatly last year, and I hope he continues to do that this year because he has a good instinct when he’s out there on the mound,” pitching coach Ray Searage said. “The beauty of Jeff is he can do multiple roles and he knows what those roles entail.”
- In the last several months Tyler Yates has rediscovered his changeup, a pitch he lost when he moved from starter to reliever (only needing the two best pitches).
“I think I’ve learned by watching other pitchers with less stuff than I have get people out and I’m like, ‘How do they do it?’ ” Yates said. “You start watching them and you see that they sink the ball a little bit more, cut the ball a little bit more, change speeds better. It’s something that I’d like to add to my repertoire, so I won’t have to throw the ball 96 mph every time out there.”
Yates is also looking to add a cutter to his repertoire, which would give him five pitches (fastball, sinker and slider are the others).
“If I can add (the change and cutter), it would give me longevity in my career,” he said. “At 33 years old, I’m trying to get everything I can out of it.”
A shot of a beautiful day in Bradenton (photo via @Colin_Dunlap)
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Non-roster’s to make the ball club, Morton out of the bullpen?
With only two weeks until Pitchers and Catchers report to spring training, Pirates beat reporter Jenifer Langosch answered fans questions in this weeks inbox (You can read the entire article here).
Of all the non-roster players invited to Spring Training, which ones probably have the best chance of sticking with the Bucs?
Let’s look at the position players first. Depending on whether the Pirates opt to carry three catchers or not, there will be two or three bench spots left to fill. You can already pencil in Ryan Doumit and one of Matt Diaz/Garrett Jones into two of the bench openings. That makes finding some backup infielders the immediate priority.
Corey Wimberly is an intriguing non-roster invite, in my opinion, because he has the versatility to play across the infield and outfield. His speed would be a major asset off the bench, and he has hit well at each Minor League level. Wimberly’s chances of making the roster will be directly affected by what the Pirates see in Rule 5 pick Josh Rodriguez.
It’s also looking like the Pirates’ backup corner infielder will come out of the non-roster invite list. Garrett Atkins, Josh Fields and Andy Marte are all candidates to win that spot. I might give Atkins the slight edge simply because he has proven himself at the Major League level and has a prior relationship with manager Clint Hurdle.
On the pitching side of things, the Pirates could be poised to add a number of non-roster players by the time Spring Training ends. Joe Beimel, who signed a Minor League deal on Friday, is almost a lock. With so many vacancies in the bullpen, look for Justin Thomas, Fernando Nieve, Sean Gallagher and Jose Veras to make pushes for open spots.
What do you think of Charlie Morton coming out of the bullpen?
While the Pirates are going to give Morton every chance to make the starting rotation, the club is ready to consider him for the bullpen as a fallback option. A large reason for that is because Morton is out of options and cannot be sent to the Minors without being exposed to other clubs on waivers. So if Scott Olsen wins the job as the team’s fifth starter, expect Morton to be fighting for one of the open spots in the ‘pen.
Pirates invite five more to spring training
The Pirates gave non-roster spring training invites to Tony Sanchez, Brian Friday, Andrew Lambo, Eric Fryer and Chase D’Arnaud according to Rob Biertempfel of the Trib on Tuesday.
There are currently 61 players invited to spring training in Bradenton, FL., the 40-man roster plus 21 non-roster invites.
The non-roster list includes: Justin Thomas, Fernando Nieve, Josh Fields, Dusty Brown, Sean Gallagher, Donnie Veal, Andy Marte, Cesar Valdez, Tyler Yates, Jeff Clement, Rudy Owens, Justin Wilson, Garrett Atkins, Brian Burres and Corey Wimberly.
Pirates’ to take part in mini camp
The Pirates are holding a mini-camp starting on Monday in Bradenton, Florida. The camp this year will be focused on conditioning and will run four days.
Those expected to attend (according to Jenifer Langosch) are:
Pitchers – Michael Crotta, Joel Hanrahan, Kevin Hart, Jeff Karstens, Brad Lincoln, Jeff Locke, Daniel McCutchen, James McDonald, Kyle McPherson, Evan Meek, Bryan Morris, Charlie Morton, Daniel Moskos, Ross Ohlendorf, Chris Resop, Aaron Thompson, Tony Watson
Catchers – Jason Jaramillo
Infielders – Pedro Ciriaco, Lyle Overbay, Steve Pearce, Josh Rodriguez, Neil Walker
Outfielders – Matt Diaz, Gorkys Hernandez, Garrett Jones, Andrew McCutchen, Alex Presley, Jose Tabata
Non Roster invites – Dusty Brown, Brian Burres, Josh Fields, Fernando Nieve, Justin Thomas, Cesar Valdez, Corey Wimberly
Pedro Alvarez and Chris Leroux are currently listed as maybes to attend.
Pirates acquire Wimberly from A’s
The Pirates acquired Corey Wimberly from the Oakland Athletics’ in exchange for right-handed pitcher Ryan Kelly. He will also receive a non-roster invite to Spring Training.
Wimberly, 27, can play five different positions: shortstop, third base, second base, left field and center field. He hit .284 with three home runs, 57 RBI in 135 games for the A’s Triple-A team. Wimberly stole 56 bases last season, 259 bags in 563 career games.
Kelly, 23, was drafted by the Pirates in the 26th round of the 2006 draft. He went 2-3 with a 4.20 ERA through 75 innings during the 2010 season with Class A-West Virginia.
Kristy Robinson
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