PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Centerfielder Dustin Fowler will get his first start as the Bucs play game 2 Saturday afternoon in Chicago.
Fowler was a late add via trade from the A’s after an outstanding season in Triple A in 2019, but no MLB at bats in 2020. The --- year-old lefty had 32 at bats with the Pirates this spring with 6 hits (.188 average), a double and 3 RBI.
“Ability to pull the ball, aggressive,” manager Derek Shelton said of his early impressions of Fowler. “Catches the ball upfront with his swing.”
Fowler did play as a reserve in the opener and caught running down the third base line on a fly ball by Ke’Bryan Hayes. Fowler wasn’t able to get back and tag on what would have been an easy sacrifice fly.
“Just made a poor read,” Shelton said, “fortunately it didn’t hurt us.
Alternate snubs
A former first round pick, shortstop Cole Tucker not invited to the alternate training site in Pittsburgh (essentially their Triple A team) to start the season.
“There were some guys who stayed in Florida for some actual skill development stuff,” said manager Derek Shelton. “Cole is one of them. Jared Oliva was one of them. We sat down and talked to them about what our thoughts were and laid out a plan. They were 100 percent on board with it. We figured Bradenton is a better place to get actual skill development stuff done.”
Shelton said they’ve identified some things to work on, but won’t disclose what exactly those are. Tucker will work at short will with other minor leaguers in Florida.
Tucker played in over half of the Pirates games last year, hitting .220 with 3 doubles, a homer and 8 RBI.
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Crick out
After his family had a child, reliever Kyle Crick is still working his way back through the intake process (COVID-19 regulations and testing) and won’t be available yet on Saturday, but could be active for the series finale on Sunday.
All-Star Pittsburgh
Shelton said he was eating dinner last night when he found out Major League Baseball will move this year’s All-Star Game from Atlanta due to new voter laws in Georgia.
“I’m focused on the Cubs and this series,” Shelton said. “There are people at the Commissioner’s office that are more aware of things and smarter than I am and they made the decision.”
“I will say PNC Park is a beautiful ballpark. Probably the most beautiful in baseball. Just throwing that out there.”
Several local lawmakers have already sent letters to Commissioner Rob Manfred to offer Pittsburgh as a new destination for the 2021 All-Star Game.