Shelton keeps eye on arms
Workload a worry after short season
BRADENTON, Fla. – JT Brubakerthrew 47⅓innings last season, most among returning Pirates.
The question now becomes what that means moving forward. Brubaker threw a career-high 154 innings in 2018 in the minors. Is it realistic to expect him to return to that level in 2021?
“I would be surprised to see someone throw 200 innings,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said. “It’s too big of an injury jump for guys to do that. I’m not saying someone won’t do it, but I think it’s going to be very challenging.”
It makes sense, then, that the Pirates have approached their roster building in the way that they have. They acquired pitchers Wil Crowe, Miguel Yajure and Luis Oviedo in offseason trades. They signed pitchers Tyler Anderson and Chase De Jong as free agents. All are capable of starting games if needed, it would seem.
Pitching coach Oscar Marin said earlier in spring training that he doesn’t feel his job is to develop five starters, it’s to develop as many as possible. That may be the case in any season, but the importance feels magnified when no one is quite sure how pitchers’ arms will react to a big upswing in activity.
Brubaker believes the effects might be felt more after this season because of the way 2020 played out.
“Even though [I] threw only 47 innings, we actually played to where we would normally end a season already,” Brubaker said. “So your body was at that point of going into the offseason where we finished the season, and then we had a normal offseason to get ready for this spring training. So I think going into next year is when you’re really gonna see guys that stretched it this year [having] problems the following year.”
Shelton isn’t quite sure what it will mean for gameto-game strategy. He mentioned the possibility of skipping a pitcher in the rotation in favor of a bullpen game or a spot start from someone else.
“To say we have the answer to that, no, we don’t,” Shelton said. “Is it something that we are talking about daily? Yes. ...
“It’s something I talked to a lot of friends of mine who are managers and pitching coaches. ... ‘Hey, how are you guys thinking about it?’ Nobody has the answer, except for trying to accumulate as much pitching as possible, then figure it out as the season goes along.”
Splitting up
Saturday marked the
Pirates notebook
final day for the Pirate City portion of spring training. Starting Sunday with morning batting practice, everything shifts to LECOM Park, where the Pirates play games.
But Shelton said “21 or 22” players will continue to train at the practice facility for “spacing purposes.” Shelton said the Pirates debated on how to structure it — whether to keep young guys or pitchers back exclusively, for example — but worried about a possible COVID-19 outbreak wiping out an entire position group.
Broadcast schedule
Those yearning for spring training baseball are in luck. Every Pirates Grapefruit League game will be available via TV, radio or webcast.
Sunday’s opener at 1:05 p.m. against the Orioles in Sarasota, Fla., will air on KDKA-FM (93.7) The home opener Tuesday against the Tigers at LECOM Park marks the first of 14 spring training TV broadcasts on AT&T SportsNet, most ever.
Tuesday’s game, along with the only night game of the spring — against Baltimore at 6:05 p.m. March 19 at LECOM Park — also will feature 30-minute pre- and post-game shows.
On the radio side, KDKAFM (93.7), KDKA-FM (100.1) and KDKA-AM (1020) will broadcast 18 games. All others can be heard via webcast at pirates.com or on the MLB At-Bat app.
The Pirates also announced that former players Kevin Young, Michael McKenry and Matt Capps occasionally will spell primarily color commentators Bob Walk and John Wehner this season.
Around the horn
When he spoke early Saturday afternoon, Shelton said the Pirates and Orioles had not finalized how many innings they’ll play Sunday. They had until 5 p.m. to make that decision, though Shelton did say: “I tentatively think we’re planning on playing nine.”
Although Saturday’s workout was short and featured limited on-field activity, Adam Frazier missed a third consecutive day with a groin injury.