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There were a few items I thought were worth posting here. They’re pretty self-explanatory.
On Liriano’s start tomorrow:
Hurdle on how long Liriano will go tomorrow: "It’s a couple. See how efficient he is with his pitches."
— Bill Brink (@BrinkPG) March 21, 2019
This is one I kinda thought they were headed toward, as starting just wasn’t working:
Clay Holmes will pitch out of the bullpen in Indianapolis, Hurdle said, in a multi-inning relief role.
— Bill Brink (@BrinkPG) March 21, 2019
And before everybody gets all excited . . .
Jung Ho Kang is starting at shortstop Friday as the Pirates plan for "emergency" situations.
— Bill Brink (@BrinkPG) March 21, 2019
Biertempfel has his predictions for the opening-day roster. They don’t seem to be based on inside information, but I think he’s probably correct. Most of it we know, including the starting lineup, Jordan Lyles in the rotation, and the first four bullpen spots.
The bench: Jacob Stallings, Melky Cabrera, Colin Moran, Pablo Reyes and Kevin Newman.
The last three bullpen spots: Francisco Liriano, Nick Burdi and Nick Kingham.
Cabrera’s been pretty obvious all along and Reyes is just good. Sending Newman down makes no sense when Kevin Kramer, Cole Tucker and Ke’Bryan Hayes are all going to be starting, and Newman going back to do what he’s already done in AAA is just a waste of time. There’s no purpose in any further development for him.
In the bullpen, Kingham has no options and he’s just about all the starting depth the Pirates have. Burdi flat out blew the competition away. And it’s hard to understand Liriano starting tomorrow — which means he faces something approaching regulars and not late-inning scrubs — if they haven’t mostly made up their minds.