BRADENTON, Fla. -- As the Pirates' final full day of camp came to a close Thursday, Derek Shelton announced that Mitch Keller will start the team's first spring game on Saturday against the Twins.
The plan is for him to throw one or two innings.
"It's cool to know that I've got the first one," Keller said after the workout, "and we'll build off of that."
Keller told me earlier in camp that he is approaching this spring "like I don’t have a job right now."
Don't read too much into Keller getting the nod first, though. While it's a nice feather in his cap, Keller was partially selected because that's how Oscar Marin's schedule for his pitchers worked out.
"Basically, Oscar told me," Shelton joked about how he made the decision.
Shelton said he and Marin have the "general idea" of who will be in the lineup and who will also pitch in the opener, but opted to wait until Friday to reveal those picks.
The Pirates' spring schedule is a bit more demanding at the start than usual. After their opener Saturday, they will have a split-squad game Sunday and then a night game on the road Monday.
"I think we have to be very cognizant of workload the first few days, so we'll spread them [our starters] out," Shelton said.
• Looking a bit ahead into the future, that Monday night game is against the Yankees. I'll give you one guess who is scheduled to start that game.
"That's awesome," Shelton said about the prospect of facing Gerrit Cole. "Anytime you get to face a guy of that caliber at any point, it's good."
• Thursday was the last full day of camp. Live BP, fielding drills, pitchers tossing, you know the drill. Everyone will show up Friday, but it will be quiet by noon. And that will be it from Pirate City in 2020.
• It was a milestone day for Edgar Santana, who got to face live batters for the first time since his Tommy John surgery in 2018.
"It feels good," Santana was telling me, with a smile. "I'm putting less pressure on my arm. I'm using my legs, using my body. Everything feels good."
Shelton thought Santana looked good, too.
"Like we've talked about with all our rehab guys, getting them on the mound, getting them off the mound healthy, having them come in the next day and have just regular pitching soreness, that's the most important thing," Shelton said.
• Santana, Nick Burdi and Chad Kuhl, all of whom are coming off of major surgeries, all look good and are healthy as camp winds down.
• Keone Kela pitched Thursday after being out with an illness earlier this week.
• Finally got to see Gregory Polanco's arm in action again during outfield drills. Nobody was going full speed and all he had to do was hit the cutoff man, but it looks like he's throwing pain-free.
On Wednesday, Polanco told me he expects to make that throw to the cutoff more often to protect his shoulder.
"That's enough. Just to the cutoff man. I don't need to throw it any farther than that."
• Who threw Thursday: Joe Musgrove, Steven Brault, Kyle Crick, Keone Kela, Chris Stratton, Edgar Santana, Derek Holland, Yacksel Rios, Nik Turley, Nick Mears, Montana DuRapau, Luis Escobar.