• The Pirates will face the Phillies today at 1:05 pm in Clearwater, Fla.

Paul Maholm will start for the Bucs, followed by Jeff Karstens, Mike Crotta, Sean Gallagher, Chris Leroux and Rudy Owens.

Roy Halladay will start for Philly.

• Pitchers Cesar Valdez, Donnie Veal and catchers Eric Fryer and Tony Sanchez have been reassigned to minor league camp on Saturday. They are the first group to be cut from spring training this year. 58 players remain at big league camp.
• The Houston Astros received bad news on Friday, as their catcher Jason Castro, will under go season ending knee surgery.

It’s been publicly known that the Pirates have been shopping Ryan Doumit. Could a trade happen soon? While it’s still very early, Doumit does come with a hefty price tag ($5.1 m). The Pirates could be willing to eat some of his salary, if they got the right guys back in return. Just something to keep your eye on.

• Andrew Lambo is settling in with the Pirates after a rough past and reputation while in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. -Great story on the Bucs minor legaue prospect
• During spring training, the late inning pitchers like Joel Hanrahan, are used in mid innings. A shake in their usual in game prepreations can be tough.

“It is different, sometimes it isn’t easy,” Hanrahan said. “But you still have to go out there and do your job. The pregame routine is different, though. Like here, in spring training, if you are pitching in the fifth you have do your stretching in the second and maybe drink your Red Bull or whatever you do in the second. Definitely a different feel, though. Because I really am a guy who feeds off the crowd.”

“Toward the end of spring, they will try to get us more into what our real roles will be,” Harahan said. “Now, obviously, they are just trying to get our feel back out on the mound at this point in spring. They are just trying to get us to get used to facing hitters again and seeing competition. I see it as competition every time, but I can’t wait to get back into the regular season and get into the regular atmosphere.”

• The Pirates have not yet named an opening day starter, but Bucs Paul Maholm says he would be honored to be that guy.

“I wouldn’t say it’s do or die, but it’s fun,” Maholm said. “If they come to me and ask or tell me I’m the guy, then I’m more than happy to do it. I’ve enjoyed it.”

Maholm was the opening day starter two years ago. He went 6.2 innings allowing one run on seven hits, getting a no-decision.

Pirates:

Pitchers: Maholm, Karstens, Crotta, Gallagher, Leroux, Owens

Lineup:  McCutchen CF, Tabata LF, Alvarez 3B, Overbay 1B, Walker 2B, Jones DH, Doumit C, Bowker RF, Cedenon SS

Phillies:

Pitchers: Roy Halladay,

Lineup: Rollins SS, Victorino CF, Ibanez LF, Howard 1B, Polanco 3B, Francisco DH, Brown RF, Young 2B, Schneider C.