Pirates claim reliever Barrett from waivers
A busy day for the Pirates started with the announcement that the team claimed right-handed reliever Jake Barrett off waivers from the San Francisco Giants.
The 27-year-old has 103 big-league appearances with the Diamondbacks from 2016-18. Barrett has posted a career 2-4 record with four saves and a 4.05 ERA. The Giants acquired Barrett from the Diamondbacks on Feb. 5 for cash considerations.
Barrett was picked in the third round of the 2012 MLB draft and made his bigleague debut in 2016 with the Diamondbacks. Barrett was 1-2 with four saves and a 3.49 ERA in 68 appearances.
Chad Kuhl was placed on the 60-day injured list to make space for Barrett on the Pirates’ 40-man roster.
Competitive fire
Shortly after claiming Barrett, the Pirates started their first split-squad day. The teams played within 10 miles of each other as Clint Hurdle managed the group in Clearwater against the Phillies and bench coach Tom Prince led the team in Dunedin against the Blue Jays.
Rookie Davis threw three strikeouts in two scoreless innings against the Blue Jays. Davis is a 6-foot-5-inch, 255-pound man with a gregarious personality. The day before the game, he was confident that he’d play well in his spring debut.
“I feel good. I feel ready to compete. I’ve been itching to do that,” Davis said. “I won’t look at the lineup until I get to the field tomorrow. I don’t want to overthink it and let who’s in the lineup interfere with my game plan. I’m a firm believer that if you execute your game plan and your pitches, you can beat anyone. That’s what I plan on doing tomorrow.”
Joe Musgrove is known as one of the most competitive guys on the team. Along with sharing an agency, Davis shares a similar spirit.
“I was telling Joe that I’m the type of guy that not only wants to beat you, but I want to embarrass you,” Davis said.
“We have a lot of guys on this team with that mentality. I want to win and we have a group of guys who have that same energy.”
Split-squad notes
• Jung Ho Kang played in his first back-to-back on Friday. Kang was 0-3 with two strikeouts against the Phillies. He played five innings at third base and fielded all of his chances well.
“I felt good today,” Kang said through an interpreter.
“It was good for me to get out there two days in a row. I’m in a good place.”
• Jordan Lyles will start against the New York Yankees at LECOM Park on Saturday. It will be his second outing of the spring. Lyles gave up one run on one hit against the Boston Red Sox on Feb. 25 in his debut. Lyles pitched two innings of that game, a 4-3 Pirates win.
• Michael Feliz pitched a scoreless frame with a strikeout on Friday against the Blue Jays. It’s his third shutout outing of the spring.
• Closer Felipe Vazquez and setup man Keone Kela will make their spring-training debuts Saturday. Both have progressed well in simulated games and live batting practice so far. Richard Rodriguez will also debut against the Yankees.
• The Pirates are trying an approach of going slower in bringing established veterans into spring games. For instance, Francisco Cervelli won’t catch for at least another few games. Over this weekend, he’ll bat as a designated hitter in one game and play first base in another.
• Starting pitchers Jameson Taillon, Trevor Williams, Joe Musgrove and Chris Archer are working in simulated games, too. Hurdle prefers this approach and used Steven Brault’s tough outing against the Yankees Saturday as an example of the logic behind it. Brault surrendered four runs on three hits and four walks in one inning. Brault walked the last three hitters he faced and failed to record an out in the second inning.
“If he’s throwing that game on a backfield, there is an opportunity to stop that first inning and control the environment to get work done,” Hurdle said. “We can create situations that you can’t in these games.”
Geoff Hartlieb was thrown into the fire and thrived on Thursday. Brault left the bases loaded with the walks. When Hartlieb came in, the next two hitters were Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Judge hit into a double play, which scored one run. Stanton popped up. Not bad for the young prospect.
• Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a double in the ninth on Friday against the Phillies. He’s hitting .333 in spring training.
• News of the Phillies signing Bryce Harper moved quickly through the Pirates clubhouse. Most of the players expressed happiness for Harper securing the deal for a reported $330 million. Nick Kingham felt it more than most. The Pirates drafted Kingham in the fourth round of the 2010 draft out of Sierra Vista High School in Las Vegas. Of course, Vegas is Harper’s hometown, too. Kingham grew up playing with and against the big-money outfielder.
“I loved it,” Kingham said of the signing with a smile. “More power to you if you can command that much money. The Phillies have a lot of good players. They’re only going to get better with Harper. I look forward to seeing what he brings to that team.”
Kingham and Harper have been friends since they were nine years old.
“It’s great to see what he’s accomplished,” Kingham. “He’s worked so hard from when we were kids. Good to see him be compensated well.”