BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Pirates will get a jump on spring training beginning Monday morning.
They will open a four-day minicamp at their Pirate City spring training facility. Unlike the NFL, Major League Baseball teams’ minicamps are voluntary under the rules of the labor agreement between the league and the Major League Baseball Players Association.
Just a handful of MLB teams conduct minicamps. However, the Pirates have had one every year since 2001, Lloyd McClendon’s first season as manager.
The players will go through light workouts with position players taking batting practice and pitchers throwing bullpen sessions under the auspices of Clint Hurdle and the coaching staff.
One of the focuses of the minicamp will be having the new duo of hitting coach Rick Eckstein and assistant hitting coach Jacob Cruz begin getting to know some of the players.
Eckstein and Cruz replace Jeff Branson and Jeff Livesey, who were fired after the Pirates finished 19th among the 30 major league teams in runs scored last season with an average of 4.30 a game. Branson was hired by the Tigers as their minor league hitting coordinator and Livesey will be the Marlins’ assistant hitting coach.
Eckstein spent the last two seasons as the Twins’ minor league hitting coordinator. Cruz served in the same role with the Cubs last year.
The five players recovering from surgery are also expected to be on hand, including Gregory Polanco. He will miss the start of the season while recovering from a torn labrum in his left shoulder and could be out until mid-June.
Polanco has spent most of the offseason in Miami working with physical therapists rather than going home to the Dominican Republic. He has been driving to Bradenton to be examined by Pirates’ medical personnel at least twice a month throughout the offseason.
The Pirates will also have an opportunity to check on the progress of Chris Archer (bilateral hernia) and Joe Musgrove (right abdominal wall, pelvic stress fracture). Both are on schedule to be full participants when spring training begins Feb. 12.
Chad Kuhl and Edgar Santana will miss the 2019 season while recovering from Tommy John elbow surgery.
