No Ben Cherington today on the team-produced weekly show with Greg Brownon the Pirates Radio Network. Kevan Graves is filling in. I'll provide updates throughout the show:
• As far as Spencer Horwitz goes, Graves said they wanted to give him the longest rehab stint they could so he could build up from not having a spring training after having wrist surgery.
• On Nick Gonzales' (ankle) rehab stint with Class AAA Indianapolis: They want to get him a "volume" of at bats before bringing him back up. They don't have a specific number of days or at-bats but want to see how he feels as he works back. Gonzales went 0 for 3 and a strikeout on Saturday in his first game with Indianapolis.
• Endy Rodriguez (right index finger laceration) has been feeling good down in Indianapolis, according to Graves. He added Rodriguez is as "anxious" as anybody to get back to Pittsburgh. Rodriguez is 1 for 6 with a home run in two games for Indianapolis.
• Graves also spoke on Dauri Moreta (elbow) who's made six appearances between Class A Bradenton and Indianapolis. He's pitched in four games for the Indians and has a 4.50 ERA over four innings but has not pitched on back-to-back days.
"With something like that, and as long as he was down and the severity of that injury, you're looking for how the arm bounces back, as well as the strike zone with the pitch quality," Graves said. "So we're monitoring all of that. He's throwing the ball well, he's been great on rehab and we'll keep pushing through that."
• Seems like the Pirates will take it slow with both Justin Lawrence (elbow) and Enmanuel Valdez (shoulder), who are both on the 60-day IL. They aren't going to rush anything with with either of them. Same with Tim Mayza (shoulder).
• Johan Oviedo (right lat strain) is still working his way back, Graves said. He's throwing sides now but he's still a long way off from returning to the rotation.
• Graves said Don Kelly is "pouring everything he's got" into his opportunity as the Pirates' manager and is connecting with the staff and the players.
• Alexander Canario was "targeted for a reason," when they acquired him, Graves said. He said they thought Canario was swinging the bat better than what his outcomes were showing and said he's shown that with the extended playing time under Kelly.
• Matt Gorski was sent back to Indianapolis this weekend when Horwitz debuted with the Pirates last night. Graves said Gorski "represented himself really well," and they want to get him "regular time" in Indianapolis and work on "some of the things he was doing really well before we called him up." Graves said he wouldn't be surprised if Gorski was back at some point.
• Graves said they were always going to be "thoughtful" with how much they played Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier. Graves said Pham's recent downtime is just a "snapshot" of the season and is just how everything has played out recently.
• On being open to trading for a field player to add to the lineup: "We would be open to it. I would say that we are exhaustive in talking to our contacts with other teams and brainstorming together, trade opportunities or player acquisition opportunities that we think could make us better. It's something that we are, candidly, we are doing every day. We are working with our baseball operations group, our pro evaluation group on who's out that there that could help us and how could we get creative in making something happen."
• Graves said Gene Lamont will help with a few different things such as in-game strategy and decision making: "The other thing, really, is as a mentor, as a trusted voice, as someone who has been in that chair. Someone who really has no agenda other than 'How can I help you?' I'm a firm believer, and (Kelly) is a firm believer in having people around you that are going to tell you the unfiltered truth. He's (Lamont) going to give him what he's got, he's going to be transparent, and his only objective is to help the Pirates and help (Kelly) perform to the best of his ability in that chair."
• As far as the bench coach role, Graves said they'll "attack it by force" by splitting up the responsibilities.
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THE ASYLUM
Greg Macafee
4:39 pm - 05.18.2025DOWNTOWNFinal: The GM's radio show
No Ben Cherington today on the team-produced weekly show with Greg Brown on the Pirates Radio Network. Kevan Graves is filling in. I'll provide updates throughout the show:
• As far as Spencer Horwitz goes, Graves said they wanted to give him the longest rehab stint they could so he could build up from not having a spring training after having wrist surgery.
• On Nick Gonzales' (ankle) rehab stint with Class AAA Indianapolis: They want to get him a "volume" of at bats before bringing him back up. They don't have a specific number of days or at-bats but want to see how he feels as he works back. Gonzales went 0 for 3 and a strikeout on Saturday in his first game with Indianapolis.
• Endy Rodriguez (right index finger laceration) has been feeling good down in Indianapolis, according to Graves. He added Rodriguez is as "anxious" as anybody to get back to Pittsburgh. Rodriguez is 1 for 6 with a home run in two games for Indianapolis.
• Graves also spoke on Dauri Moreta (elbow) who's made six appearances between Class A Bradenton and Indianapolis. He's pitched in four games for the Indians and has a 4.50 ERA over four innings but has not pitched on back-to-back days.
"With something like that, and as long as he was down and the severity of that injury, you're looking for how the arm bounces back, as well as the strike zone with the pitch quality," Graves said. "So we're monitoring all of that. He's throwing the ball well, he's been great on rehab and we'll keep pushing through that."
• Seems like the Pirates will take it slow with both Justin Lawrence (elbow) and Enmanuel Valdez (shoulder), who are both on the 60-day IL. They aren't going to rush anything with with either of them. Same with Tim Mayza (shoulder).
• Johan Oviedo (right lat strain) is still working his way back, Graves said. He's throwing sides now but he's still a long way off from returning to the rotation.
• Graves said Don Kelly is "pouring everything he's got" into his opportunity as the Pirates' manager and is connecting with the staff and the players.
• Alexander Canario was "targeted for a reason," when they acquired him, Graves said. He said they thought Canario was swinging the bat better than what his outcomes were showing and said he's shown that with the extended playing time under Kelly.
• Matt Gorski was sent back to Indianapolis this weekend when Horwitz debuted with the Pirates last night. Graves said Gorski "represented himself really well," and they want to get him "regular time" in Indianapolis and work on "some of the things he was doing really well before we called him up." Graves said he wouldn't be surprised if Gorski was back at some point.
• Graves said they were always going to be "thoughtful" with how much they played Tommy Pham and Adam Frazier. Graves said Pham's recent downtime is just a "snapshot" of the season and is just how everything has played out recently.
• On being open to trading for a field player to add to the lineup: "We would be open to it. I would say that we are exhaustive in talking to our contacts with other teams and brainstorming together, trade opportunities or player acquisition opportunities that we think could make us better. It's something that we are, candidly, we are doing every day. We are working with our baseball operations group, our pro evaluation group on who's out that there that could help us and how could we get creative in making something happen."
• Graves said Gene Lamont will help with a few different things such as in-game strategy and decision making: "The other thing, really, is as a mentor, as a trusted voice, as someone who has been in that chair. Someone who really has no agenda other than 'How can I help you?' I'm a firm believer, and (Kelly) is a firm believer in having people around you that are going to tell you the unfiltered truth. He's (Lamont) going to give him what he's got, he's going to be transparent, and his only objective is to help the Pirates and help (Kelly) perform to the best of his ability in that chair."
• As far as the bench coach role, Graves said they'll "attack it by force" by splitting up the responsibilities.
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Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits! Make your voice heard on the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates, and hear right back from tens of thousands of fellow Pittsburgh sports fans worldwide! Plus, access all our premium content, including Dejan Kovacevic columns, Friday Insider, daily Live Qs with the staff, more! And yeah, that's right, no ads at all!
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