Spring training thread: Baseball begins

Gone are the days when the Pirates would open the pre-season with a monumental matchup against Manatee Community College, a game that became known as the Virgil Vasquez Challenge Cup. This year, the team is even skipping the bitter rivalry known as the Black-and-Gold Game. Instead, the Pirates will quietly open the pre-season with a split squad game today. One squad will play the Orioles at McKechnie Field while the other heads to Port Charlotte to face the Rays. Both games start at 1:05 PM.

Scheduled pitchers for the home game, which is at McKechnie Field, are:

Steven Brault
Trevor Williams
Tony Watson
Daniel Hudson
Felipe Rivero
Juan Nicasio
Antonio Bastardo
A.J. Schugel
Pat Light

Lined up to pitch the road game are:

Josh Lindblom
Tyler Eppler
Dan Runzler
Edgar Santana
Jared Lakind
Dovydas Neverauskas
Cody Dickson