BRADENTON, Fla. – The workouts are over and now the Grapefruit League season begins.
The Pirates completed their last full-squad workout Friday morning at Pirate City. They open exhibition play Saturday against the Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., with Steven Brault starting against Enyel de los Santos.
Brault is the only left-hander among the four pitchers competing for the fifth and final spot in the rotation. The others are Rookie Davis, Nick Kingham and Jordan Lyles.
Also expected to pitch for the Pirates are right-handers Clay Holmes, Michael Feliz, Brandon Maurer, Aaron Slegers and Geoff Hartlieb.
Clint Hurdle said he will ease most of the regulars into action over the first few days of Grapefruit League play. Major League Baseball does not require teams to field “representative lineups” in road games until March 1.
“We’re approaching it with a bigger thought in the mind, the bigger picture that we’re lengthening out the (exhibition) season and how there is no need to start out on opening day,” Hurdle said.
The exhibition games will also give the Pirates a better opportunity to evaluate players than during the workouts, though the Grapefruit League is far from a regular set-up. Often, major-league hitters will be facing minor-league pitchers or vice versa.
“It’s the best exercise we have because you truly want to evaluate against the best competition available,” Hurdle said. “That being said, we’re always mindful of the competition. Once you get out there, though, the competitive juices and spirit start flowing, and everyone wants to perform well.”
The Pirates made it out of the workout portion of spring training without any injuries. However, Elias Diaz missed his third straight day Friday because of illness.
“I’m very happy with the way everything has gone so far,” Hurdle said.
• Garth Brooks spent his final day in camp and will now prepare for his next tour, which begins in March. The country music legend addressed the team before the workout and thanked the players for “accepting me as your teammate these last two weeks.”
Brooks left an impression on the Pirates while also raising awareness for his Garth Brooks Teammates for Kids Foundation, which has raised more than $100 million for children's charities.
“He was a welcome addition as I shared with the team and I shared with Garth,” Hurdle said. “The respect and passion for the game stood above everything else. We folded him in. This wasn’t a distraction. He came in and did the work, did the drills and was embraced by the team. I know the players appreciated it, I know he appreciated it and, most importantly, his charity appreciated it.”
• Baserunning drills were part of each of the Pirates’ five full-squad workouts and that should not be a surprise. The Pirates were abysmal on the bases for much of last season. The low point came in September when Gregory Polanco tore the labrum in his left (throwing) shoulder while diving into second base.
Polanco executed perfect slides during drills Friday, though, and flashed the safe sign and a big grin after each one.
The Pirates ranked 28th among the 30 major-league teams in FanGraphs’ baserunning runs metric in 2018, ahead of just the Mariners and Blue Jays. The Pirates were also successful on just 64.8 percent (70 of 108) of their stolen-base attempts.
Starling Marte was caught stealing 14 times, tying Braves center fielder Ender Inciarte for the major-league lead.
According to FanGraphs, Josh Harrison was the Pirates’ best baserunner and Colin Moran the worst. Harrison left for the Tigers in free agency after the Pirates declined his $10.5-million club option.
• The last workout at Pirate City means saying farewell to old friend Woody Huyke for another spring.
The venerable Huyke is beginning his 61st season in professional baseball, including his 51st in the Pirates’ organization. He is currently a special minor-league instructor but was the long-time manager of the rookie-level Gulf Coast League farm club and the clubhouse at Pirate City is named after him.
Huyke has seen it all in Bradenton as he joined the Pirates in 1969, the same year they moved their spring training operation from Fort Myers, Fla.
“I still love it,” Huyke told me. “There is nowhere else I’d rather be.”
• All the Pirates’ players from Latin America wore T-shirts under their workout jerseys that read “Free Venezuela” in support of the nation torn apart by political strife. Four players on the 40-man roster are natives of Venezuela: Felipe Vazquez, Francisco Cervelli, Jose Osuna and Diaz.