BRADENTON, Fla. -- With only five full squad workouts before their first game, the Pirates have been operating under a more abbreviated spring training schedule than usual.
That's why they held their first live batting practice Tuesday, on their second day of full squad workouts. That is earlier than camps in the past.
They also removed the protection in front of the pitcher to make it more "real," according to Derek Shelton.
"It was really good to see," Shelton said of his pitchers after the workout. "There were some guys who threw the ball really well."
The players seemed to appreciate getting to face live competition sooner.
"It's great. That's what we itch for from the new year on," Josh Bell was telling me.
"As a younger guy being here in my first big league camp, I think it's good because they're going to use me early," said Cody Ponce.
"For me, as many live at-bats that i can get before the real thing is good, especially coming off my surgery," Jason Martin opined.
The only player to express any sort of reservation was Cole Tucker, but he saw the positives, too.
"I was talking to some guys today about the anxiety of live BP because pitchers are way ahead of the hitters and out timing isn't right yet," Tucker said. "We've been working on our swings all offseason and then you show up for live BP and it's your assessment of how you did and does it play against velocity?
"It was fun. It would be fun whether we did it Feb. 1 or Mar. 1, whichever it is. Just to see where you're at find out where you stand against velocity."
• Omar Moreno is in Pirate City doing some coaching. Team president Travis Williams made good on his word and brought him back after Moreno was briefly fired in November.
John Candelaria and Manny Sanguillen are also here, so the alumni are well-represented.
"To have those guys here and the fact that they're taking their time to be around our guys, I think it's really cool," Shelton said.
• Shelton praised Mitch Keller's composure:
"I think he carries himself in a really good way. He's very quiet, he's very calm. For starting pitchers, I think that's an incredible attribute because of the fact that there's going to be good days, there's going to be bad days."
• Shelton has talked about the importance of having fun when doing practice or drills. We got a peek at that Tuesday. To cap off rundown drills, Colin Moran dove to make the final tag, barely beating the runner who was going home, which got a round of applause from his teammates.
• Gregory Polanco took a couple, ahem, healthy cuts in the cage today.
The swing is still pretty.
• Keone Kela did not participate in Tuesday's workout due to a viral infection. I'll have an update tomorrow after meeting with Todd Tomczyk.
• Who threw a side session Tuesday: Trevor Williams, Michael Feliz, Mitch Keller, Hector Noesi, Miguel Del Pozo, Geoff Hartlieb, Blake Cederlind, James Marvel, Cody Ponce, Williams Jerez
Who will throw Wednesday: Chris Archer, J.T. Brubaker, Chad Kuhl, Richard Rodriguez, Clay Holmes, Dovydas Neverauskas, Sam Howard, Nick Burdi, Tom Koehler, Blake Weiman, Robbie Erlin