Please provide your valuable input for a couple of minutes. Tom

Reunited with Tom Gorzelanny

I was at work during the game today, but here's Rob Biertempfel's report. James McDonald allowed 10 runs and seven walks (!!!) in 3.2 innings, so it sounds like he was miles away from his last start. It sounds like ordinarily, McDonald would have been removed earlier, but the Bucs wanted him to get his work in, so they hung him out to dry while he allowed seven runs in the fourth. But he walked three batters in the first and two in the second, so it wasn't as if he ever really had it. Pedro Alvarez went 2-for-5 with two strikeouts. The Pirates have taken the toe tap out of his swing as a way of simplifying things a bit.

Kristy Robinson quotes GM Neal Huntington, saying Charlie Morton will start the season on the 15-day disabled list. This isn't that surprising as the Pirates won't need a fifth starter until mid-April. Morton will probably get some extra work in extended spring training. He has said repeatedly that he is fine and ready to go, so it will be interesting to see what date the Pirates use to put him on the list. UPDATE: It appears the Pirates have laid out the schedule for Morton. He will pitch a simulated game in Bradenton on April 4, go to Pittsburgh for opening day and then pitch for AAA Indy on the April 9. At that point, they will reevaluate.

Various sources are tweeting that the Pirates have reassigned P Ryota Igarashi, C Eric Fryer, C/IF/OF Jake Fox and IF Nick Evans to minor league camp. No surprises here, although Igarashi apparently was "shocked" and said he "did everything I could have done." through a translator. There definitely is a lost-in-translation joke in there somewhere, since he was a longshot to make the roster. 30 players remain on the roster after these cuts. Juan Cruz's move to the 40-man and the corresponding move are expected to come today. UPDATE by Charlie: Igarashi must have figured that an awful performance record and a complete stinker of a Spring Training performance would be good enough to win him a spot on a big-league roster that has a ton of right-handed pitching. Somehow, he was wrong.

Couple items from Beertemple's twitter feed: Looks like #Pirates are making some cuts today. Nick Evans, Jake Fox have been in manager's office. #Pirates also have cut Igarashi.

James McDonald starts for the Bucs.

The Pirates released Rodriguez on March 27th.

Perhaps an interesting read for you numbers geeks -- glad we don't have Eric Wedge! Another article referencing the info: http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2012/3/28/2908044/manager-wins-above-expectancy Enjoy!