The grind for opening day has officially started with the Pirates starting Grapefruit League play against the Toronto Blue Jays in Bradenton, FL.
They kicked off with a somewhat close to starting lineup minus a few players and tabbed Mitch Keller on the mound.
Keller looked good in his two innings against the strong top half of the Jays lineup. He only gave up one hit and got two strikeouts, while also getting perennial MVP candidate Vlad Guerrero Jr. to groundout into a double play.
Shelton also got a lot of his pitching staff that’s departing for the WBC in two weeks some game time.
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All-Star closer David Bednar, who’s set to represent team USA, got rocked in his one inning of play, giving up homeruns to Vlad and Addison Barger. Roansy Contreras, Jarlin Garcia, and Duane Underwood Jr. were also all tagged for runs today.
On the batting side, Rodolfo Castro helped his case for starting second baseman by crushing a grand slam for the Bucs first homer of the spring off of former pirate Zach Thompson.
Oneil Cruz, Carlos Santana, and Austin Hedges all picked up a knock as well before exiting the game. Andrew McCutchen went 0-for-3 with a strikeout in his return in a Pirates uniform.
Liover Peguero went 2-for-2 with two RBI singles, looking to fight for the second base job or a infield utility bench role.
Top prospects Endy Rodriguez and Henry Davis also saw game time. Neither recorded a hit, but Davis had a sac fly.
They fell to the Blue Jays by a final score of 9-7. They’ll be back in action on Monday against the reining NL champ Philadelphia Phillies at 1:05 p.m. EST.