Yesterday the Pirates had several players rehabbing over at Pirate City. Tony Watson threw an inning in one of the minor league games, while Charlie Morton threw a bullpen and live batting practice, and Ali Solis took live batting practice. I spoke with all three players after their work. I’ve been under the weather the last two days, so here is the delayed update.
**Tony Watson had been out of action since February 28th, working on some mechanical issues, and dealing with physical issues. He noted that the Pirates were being cautious with the physical stuff. He had some soreness early in camp, and stopped throwing off the mound.
“The time is coming down short here, so I got to get out there and get my innings in,” Watson said of his outing. “Felt good. Everything physically felt really good out there, Obviously the results — not what I wanted. It was good to get out there. No setbacks, nothing.”
The outing didn’t go so well from a results standpoint. Watson threw 23 pitches, and was hit around by the Yankees’ high-A team. Watson said that he’s still on track to start the season in the majors, and could throw again on Wednesday.
**Charlie Morton threw a bullpen and live batting practice. He threw around 30 pitches in his bullpen, and 20 in his live BP, which was eight more than last time. He was mostly throwing the fastball and changeup. Morton noted that he’s just working on building up his pitch count at this point.
**Ali Solis was cut today. The catcher was originally hurt with a back strain when playing winter ball in Mexico. He got hurt again at the beginning of camp. Solis took live batting practice against Charlie Morton. He noted that his back has felt better lately. Yesterday was his first time swinging the bat since the first few weeks in camp. He said the pain is still there, but is getting better everyday with his exercise and training work. There’s no word yet on when he could get back into games, but Solis said it could be pretty soon.
