CINCINNATI -- Even as the Pirates are nearing the finish line of a last place season, hope always springs eternal in Bradenton, Fla.
And that hope will spring anew on Feb. 27, when the Pirates start their spring training game schedule in Fort Myers, Fla. against the Red Sox.
That will be the first of 32 days of games in 34 days ahead of the regular season.
The Pirates’ first home game will come Feb. 28 against the Braves.
That is a bit later of a start than last year, when their first game was played Feb. 22. The regular season will start on Apr. 1 in 2021, which is also later than we have seen in recent years. Originally the Pirates’ 2020 season was supposed to start on Mar. 26.
The Pirates did not announce an official start date to camp or when pitchers and catchers should report, but players started to report 12 days before the first spring game in 2020, and the first workout came 10 days before, too. That was a shorter camp at Pirate City than usual, so it could theoretically be extended another day or two, considering teams will be very concerned with pitcher health and building the up safely after the glut of pitcher injuries across baseball in 2020.
The regular season opener will be Apr. 1 against the Cubs in Chicago. They will play three-game series against the Cubs and Reds to open the season before returning to Pittsburgh to face the Cubs on Apr. 8.