-The Pirates' game against the Twins is in progress. You can follow it here. Jose Castillo and Jeromy Burnitz have already both homered.
-You can follow the Pirates' spring training stats here.
-To be fair to Jim Tracy, I'm glad that he's concerned about patience.
-Ian Snell says his changeup is "very much improved" compared to last season.
-The Trib reports on Brandon Duckworth, a 30-year-old who has "potential." If we should've learned anything from Daryle Ward, it's that 30-year-olds don't have potential as baseball players, or if they do, it's rarely worth the risk of them doing what they've done their whole career instead of displaying that "potential." Duckworth is merely acceptable as AAA filler at this point. Giving him a spot in the rotation would, in all likelihood, be an extremely bad idea. The same is true of Ryan Vogelsong, who's only eighteen months younger than Duckworth. I'd only use Vogelsong in the rotation if all the other options (Snell, Tom Gorzelanny, Sean Burnett) prove they're not ready. If Vogelsong winds up in the rotation because the Pirates don't have anyone else, fine; but he's way past the point in his career where he should be getting chances based on his stuff. He hasn't put things together yet, and at this point in his career, he's not very likely to.