Results tagged ‘ jose veras ’
Pirates ‘pen coming together
The Pirates made several announcements on Wednesday, leaving just a few spots open in the ‘pen during the final six weeks until opening day.
Manager Clint Hurdle named Joel Hanrahan the Bucs closer and Evan Meek as the eighth-inning set up man.
He also announced that Joe Beimel will become the Pirates lefty specialist for the 2011 season. Beimel signed a minor league contract with a non-roster spring training invite. The Pirates will need to remove someone from the 40-man roster in order to make room for the southpaw.
“We didn’t go get him to try him out,” Hurdle said. “We wanted to have a left-handed option that can bridge innings for us toward the back end of the game. He’s going to play a significant role as well.”
The leaves four spots open in the bullpen.
After great success with the Pirates in 2010 (in 19 innings, 22 appearances, Resop posted a 1.89 ERA with 24 strikeouts), Chris Resop will most likely land a job.
Jose Veras seems like another favorite in the ‘pen. In five seasons and 176 appearances, Veras has a career 4.24 ERA (3.75 ERA in 2010 with the Cleveland Indians).
“He was a good get for us,” Hurdle said of Veras, who signed a Minor League deal with the team in January. “[General manager] Neal [Huntington] was very aggressive to go get Veras. He’s got a big arm.”
The Pirates have many options for the remaining spots. Jeff Karstens and Brian Burres could fill in as the long reliever. Whoever doesn’t win the fifth spot in the rotation, Charlie Morton or Scott Olsen, could also fill that role.
Some other options include: Tyler Yates, Kevin Hart, Chris Leroux, Justin Thomas, Sean Gallagher, Jose Ascanio, and Fernanado Nieve.
“I want these guys to have a clean shot,” Hurdle said. “It’s not always about the results in Spring Training, but it’s about the quality of the stuff. I think we’ve got enough educated eyes around here to get a better read on that, rather than just the numbers as they play out.”
News and notes: 2/13
Happy Pitchers and Catchers report day!
“For me, this is an exciting time,” Clint Hurdle said. “I’m looking forward to being a part of something significant and special here.”
- 41 pitchers and catchers, 15 are non-roster invitees, reported to Bradenton, FL. Jose Veras, Jose Ascanio and Cesar Valdez were having VISA issues and are expected to be at camp by Monday morning.
- Spring Training’s first official workout is scheduled to begin at noon ET and the first full-squad workout will be held on Saturday.
- There are 62 players attending spring training this year (Click here for the full list).
- *Note: Jeff Clement has been removed from the list of non-roster invitees. He is still recovering from surgery and therefore will be reporting to Minor League camp.
- Pirates beat reporter, Jenifer Langosch, reports that spring training will be much different this year, compared to years past.
Hurdle has promised changes to the Spring Training routine, so the workout days should look different than they did when John Russell was in charge. Hurdle specifically noted that there would be an increased focus on shoring up fundamentals and honing pitchers’ pickoff moves.
“We’re going to talk about playing better baseball,” general manager Neal Huntington said. “We’re going to talk about taking care of business every single day. We’re going to talk about making sure that we’re prepared. We’re going to talk about making sure we’re in position to win that next game. If we do that every day, if we do that every series, if we do that every week, if we do that every month, we’re going to look up at the end and we’re going to have had a great year.”
Some of the pitchers get an early start to camp with a light workout at Pirate City (picture via @BucsInsider)
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.
Veras signs a minor league deal with Bucs
The Pirates have signed reliever Jose Veras to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training.
Veras, 30, went 3-3 with a 3.75 ERA in 48 appearances with the Florida Marlins in 2010.
According to ESPNDesportes, Veras had other offers from the Giants, Rockies, Twins, Marlins, and Rays.
If he makes the major league roster, Veras will make $1 Million plus incentives.
Kristy Robinson
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