PIRATES

Tommy Pham was removed in the third inning of the Pirates' 5-3 loss to the Tigers Sunday afternoon with left hip tightness, but he said it's not something to worry about moving forward. 

"Just more precaution, being smart. In the season, I'd play through it. In the season, I don't miss any time with this," Pham said. "It's just because it's the second week of March, spring training. You don't have to push it."  

The injury occurred on a leadoff triple by Jahmai Jones in the third inning. The ball sailed down the left-field line at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium when Pham attempted to make a play on it. 

"Their foul line is like Wrigley where it's a plate. So you don't take many reps here to know that," Pham explained. "My cleat literally, running full speed down the line, trying to cut off the ball and you step on it. My leg kind of locked up, went straight. And, you guys saw, I fell on my behind. So, eventually my hip got tight because I tried to do an awkward move there. But, it's nothing to be concerned about. It's just more getting it worked on so I can be ahead of it tomorrow and get my full practice in." 

Despite the premature ending to his day, it was a productive one for a 37-year-old veteran who homered and made a strong defensive play in the second inning when Kerry Carpenter tried to stretch a single into a double. Pham came up throwing and gunned Carpenter down for the second out of the inning. 

Pham hopes that being able to play more shallow in left field will translate to him showing off his arm and contributing in a positive way defensively, as he did in backing up Andrew Heaney's pitching performance with a recorded out in the second. 

"That would be great, 'cause those plays help the DRS, minus the last one," Pham said, referring to the defensive play in which he was injured. "I was joking with the fellas today about when I threw out Carpenter. I'm like 'attaway to get the DRS up there.' The last one will surely bring it down, giving him an extra 90 feet. I'll try to avoid that and help the pitchers out. Just overall, got to be better. Got to be better. I don't want to be a liability for the guys on the mound. I want to help them as much as possible." 

Pham's home run came in the top of the third inning on a 2-1 fastball from Tarik Skubal. It ended up on the outer portion of the plate and Pham went the other way with it, sending it just fair in right field. Not only was it Pham's first homer of the spring, but it was especially sweet considering it gave him an opportunity to silence a fan chirping him from behind home plate. 

"A fan was basically saying how I belong in the minor leagues, which I don't know. You don't get the amount of time I have in today's game if you're not a major leaguer," Pham said. "But he was kind of riding me hard that at-bat about being a minor leaguer, and when you hit a home run, it's a good way to silence 'em. I just looked into the stands and everyone smiled, everyone laughed at him I guess. So, it was kind of cool." 

Pham said he's still working on some things he needs to be better at offensively, but he liked the way he controlled the strike zone in his final at-bat against the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner. 

"I felt like I saw the ball good, and I'm still working through some things visually," Pham said. "But ultimately, I really don't judge myself right now 'til like the last week of spring training. That's really when you want to make sure you're ready."

A few other notes: 

• It was a three-hit day for Joey Bart, who now has three multi-hit performances across five games this month. All of his hits were singles, including a line-drive base hit that drove in a run in the third inning. Bart is 8 for 18 with two home runs and eight RBIs in seven games this spring. 

• Caleb Ferguson continues to be lengthened out this spring. He's now made four appearances of two-plus innings after throwing 2 2/3 scoreless innings against the Tigers. He allowed three hits, hit a batter, walked one and struck out two. He threw 25 of 47 pitches for strikes. 

• Billy Cook was 0 for 3 with two strikeouts today. He's just 1 for 14 with five strikeouts and five walks through nine games this spring. It's only spring, yes, but there's certainly more to be desired in terms of offensive results from a guy battling for a spot on the opening day roster.