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First Pitch: Pirates Head to Cleveland for Their Second Exhibition Game

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Tonight is game two of the three-game exhibition schedule for Spring Training 2.0. The Pittsburgh Pirates are taking on the Cleveland Indians at 7 PM in Cleveland. The game will be televised on AT&T SportsNet and broadcast on KDKA 93.7 FM and the Pirates Radio Network. The Pirates lost game one on Saturday night by a 5-3 score, giving up a 3-0 lead late in the game.

The Pirates announced their probable pitchers for tonight ahead of time. Trevor Williams will get the start, and he will be followed by JT Brubaker, Michael Feliz, Richard Rodriguez, Kyle Crick, Robbie Erlin and Chris Stratton. Williams confirmed on Saturday night’s broadcast that he will start the second game of the regular season in St Louis.

Manager Derek Shelton made some announcements to the local media yesterday, informing everyone that Ke’Bryan Hayes has tested positive for Covid-19, while Cole Tucker will play outfield in tonight’s game.

Hayes hasn’t been with the team for quite some time. We don’t know the exact date that he tested positive, but he’s been in quarantine.

Tucker has been playing outfield in practice the last few days, including center field in yesterday’s intrasquad scrimmage, but this is still a quick move from practice to the real thing. With Gregory Polanco out, the Pirates have some room for extra playing time for Tucker and he has the athleticism and arm to play outfield. That being said, it still takes some time to get used to the outfield, so it could be rough at first.

We will have a game discussion post up later tonight. The first one did well (125+ comments), especially for a Saturday night, which has always been a slow time on this site (Sunday nights as well). So if you’re around tonight, join us for the discussion.

* Fangraphs recently updated their starting pitcher rankings for the 2020 season. Joe Musgrove is the highest ranked Pirates pitcher, coming in at 36th best in baseball. Mitch Keller ranks 55th, showing that Fangraphs believes that he can adjust better to MLB hitters this year. Derek Holland is 111th and Chad Kuhl ranks 125th. Trevor Williams did not make the top 181.

**We will have at least four (make that five) articles today, including the one you’re currently reading. If any news comes up we will have more. The other scheduled articles for today are as follows:

This Date in Pittsburgh Pirates History – An obscure Hall of Famer born on this date, plus a career day for Adam Hyzdu.

Pittsburgh Pirates Trade History – Found out why I didn’t include any St Louis Browns trades in with the Baltimore Orioles edition of Pirates Trade History.

1979 Season Recap – Pirates take on the Astros, attempting to win their fifth straight.

Hope everyone starts their week off strong. Opening Day is just four days away.

SONG OF THE DAY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzKf17t2PPk

DAILY QUIZ


RANDOM STUFF OF THE DAY

This video is old enough that it’s okay to show a Pirates lowlight. The Toy Cannon, Jimmy Wynn, hits a home run to straight away center field at Forbes Field, over the 457 foot sign

John Dreker
John Dreker
John started working at Pirates Prospects in 2009, but his connection to the Pittsburgh Pirates started exactly 100 years earlier when Dots Miller debuted for the 1909 World Series champions. John was born in Kearny, NJ, two blocks from the house where Dots Miller grew up. From that hometown hero connection came a love of Pirates history, as well as the sport of baseball. When he didn't make it as a lefty pitcher with an 80+ MPH fastball and a slider that needed work, John turned to covering the game, eventually focusing in on the prospects side, where his interest was pushed by the big league team being below .500 for so long. John has covered the minors in some form since the 2002 season, and leads the draft and international coverage on Pirates Prospects. He writes daily on Pittsburgh Baseball History, when he's not covering the entire system daily throughout the entire year on Pirates Prospects.

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