Brentz wants to stay with Pirates
BRADENTON, Fla. — Outfielder Bryce Brentz said Sunday morning that he would be happy to remain with the Pirates organization, assuming he clears waivers.
“Great group of guys,” Brentz said.
“Coaching staff, getting to know everyone has been great. Unfortunately it’s business, you know? Things like this happen. Part of the ups and downs of baseball. You get through it and work your way through it. That’s about all you can do.”
Brentz, who was out of minor-league options, will head to Class AAA Indianapolis if he clears waivers and will be off the Pirates’ 40-man roster. He had a chance to make the opening day roster as a power bat off the bench, but he struggled this spring with a .250 batting average and .362 on-base percentage in 17 games. He also had a shoulder issue and was having trouble with his contact lenses earlier this spring.
“I’ve struggled worse. It’s documented,” Brentz said.
“Yeah, I didn’t come in and bang out like we would have hoped to, worked through some things. Once I kind of got the contacts figured out, then unfortunately we had the shoulder take out six days, lost a lot of at-bats, but felt good, felt like I was working through some things and got through them. I was starting to find a lot of barrels, just unfortunately not a lot of results at the beginning.”
Brentz played 34 games over two seasons with the Boston Red Sox in 2014 and 2016. He thrived last year with Class AAA Pawtucket, hitting .271 with 31 homers in 120 games. The Red Sox traded him to the Pirates last month for cash.
“I’ve never really started off hot, never really did whatever,” Brentz said. “There’s no excuses. I get it. To sit there and come through every day and meet these guys and play with them was a lot of fun. Hopefully, we’ll be back. Right now, we’re just going through that process and we’ll see what happens.”
The Pirates have not stated whether the remaining open spot on their roster will go to a fifth bench player or a 13th pitcher. Jose Osuna is the remaining contender for the bench spot.