How soon is too soon to discuss opening day rosters? Do Spring Training (ST) statistics matter? The answer to the first is never, and the second answer is no. Nevertheless, this new weekly, for ST, segment will look at how the roster is taking shape. Each position will be looked at and the players within will be discussed as we move closer to Opening Day (OD) and the finalized 26-man roster.

Catcher (2): At the catcher position the Pirates have four options going into the 2024 season. Henry Davis, Yasmani Grandal, Jason Delay, and Ali Sanchez. It has been stated by Derek Shelton, kind of, that Grandal is the starter going into the season. But the roundabout coach-speak answer, when ready carefully, points to that either changing mid-season or being complete bollocks. Davis has seen the most time behind and at the plate so far this spring, and he has made the most of it. He has been very impressive on the offensive side and has been adequate, if not solid, on the defensive side. Through nine ST games to date, fans are already screaming for him to be the starter. There is plenty of time left to make that decision but if things remain as torrid as they have so far, that might be exactly what happens. Grandal has appeared in only two games, which is not surprising considering the Shelton comments. He has not looked good offensively in those games but that is not a surprise considering his recent track record and how early into ST it is. Grandal is all but guaranteed a spot on the opening day roster, much like some of the older players on this team will be brought along slowly. Delay has been given nearly as many chances as Davis, and has failed to impress so far. People remember the Delay we saw for a month last season and forget all the rest we saw from him. Right now, he is outside looking in for an opening roster position, with plenty of ball left to play. Sanchez has seen very little playing time so far this spring and appears to be a man forgotten on the roster. Unless the injury bug bites this unit again, or something unforeseen happens chances are they will try to slip him through waivers before the season starts.

Prediction: Grandal and Davis are your opening-day catchers.

First Base (1): First base is where Rowdy Tellez will play, and we will see Connor Joe and Jared Triolo there this season as well. The other 1B in camp getting early looks are Rule 5 Seth Beer and NRI Jake Lamb. Lamb has seen the most playing time so far and he is playing OK to date, but the number of strikeouts even in spring training makes it hard to imagine he will be anything more than an NRI who was given a handful of ST at-bats. Beer has seen some limited action this spring but is expected to start the year in AAA and be at best a AAAA-type player. He failed to impress in his time in Arizona and was selected in the Rule 5 as a depth piece to play in Indianapolis. Expect to see him less and probably head early to the minor league camp. Tellez is the opening-day starter for the Pirates at 1B, while he has not played well this spring it doesn’t matter. Hopefully, he can work out some kinks and return to the 2022 form fans hope to see.

Prediction: Tellez is your starter.

Second Base (2): Where to start, one of maybe two actual battles coming into spring was who was going to grab the 2B job. The four players vying for it are Jared Triolo, Nick Gonzles, Liover Peguero, and Ji-hwan Bae. The dark horse candidate that people want to push as a true candidate (which, of course, he is not) is Termarr Johnson. Quickly on Johnson: there is no chance he will start the year in the MLB. He only played as high as high A last year, and even if he bats .500 the rest of the Spring and plays stellar defense, he will still go—at best—to Altoona to start the season. Of the four vying for a spot, Bae has stood out, as the one least likely to be earning a spot on the opening-day roster. While he is walking almost every third at-bat he is not looking good. Both in the field and at the plate, he is just not impressing anyone. There is plenty of spring left but, at the moment, he is the odd man out. Peguero has not looked great at the plate so far, but he also hasn’t struck out and has earned a pair of walks. He has, however, looked very good at 2B, if his bat starts to come around, with his fielding, he could easily make the roster. Triolo and Gonzales come into the new week hitting about equally, the difference being a double for Nick and a home run for Jared. Both have also played well in the field, though Triolo appears to have the slight edge there so far this spring. 

Prediction: Gonzales and Peguero both make the team. Gonzales seems the majority of his work at 2B, with Peguero seeing a mix of time at 2B and SS.

Third Base (2): Ke’Bryan Hayes. That is your starter. There was no doubt of this moving into the spring, and through nine games there is no doubt. If you want to hear more about Hayes check out the most recent episode of StarBucs. Not to double up here, but listen to it. If even half of what was discussed comes to pass, boy are fans in for a treat. To be concise, if the bat looks like it did end of last year, with his GG defense, he will be a special player.

Prediction: Ke’Bryan Hayes and Jared Triolo. Third base is Triolo’s natural position, so he is listed here, but he will be a super utility making 4-5 starts a week.

Shortstop (1): Oneil Cruz, much like Hayes, is the man for this position. While early in spring he hasn’t done what fans want to see—hit bombs—he has done everything else.  He is taking walks, he is stealing bases, he is playing pretty good defense at SS. The bat has a bit of rust on it due to the time off last year, but nothing is showing that it will not come back around as spring progresses. Tsung-Che Cheng and Alika Williams are the others to see plenty of time at Short this spring. Cheng is a nice prospect who will head back to the minors shortly; however, keep an eye on him moving forward because he will be a guy to watch. Williams will continue to get looks at the spot as spring rolls on, but with Peguero, Gonzales, and Triolo on the roster, he will easily be the odd man out.

Prediction: Cruz will be the primary SS this year, with the other guys filling in as needed.

Left Field (1): Bryan Reynolds is the starting left fielder, there is no wiggle room in that. He has not had the best early spring so far, but there is nothing to worry about. He is working on what he needs to work on as he prepares for the regular season. Gorski and McKinney have both seen a fair amount of playing time in LF as well. Gorski has not looked good. At 26, he should continue to see some playing time; however, there doesn’t appear much of a chance he will make the roster at any point. McKinney was picked up off the Austin Hedges money from the last deadline and has been mildly impressive so far. While he has not played his way into the left fielder spot, he might be playing his way into that 4^th outfielder position.

Prediction: Reynolds is your starter.

Center Field (1): Suwinski, Jack Suwinski. The CF position has been debated many times over the last year or so, but it appears it belongs to Suwinski. Bae has seen time in CF this spring, but as previously mentioned he has failed to impress with his bat or his glove. Suwinski has not been hitting as of yet but that will come. He has always been streaky. If he can cut down on the streakiness, it will go a long way for him being what some are starting to see him as. The surprise in the Outfield this spring—outside of McKinney—has been Gilberto Celestino. He has been very good offensively and has played well defensively too. It is hard to see him making the team over what is there already; however, if he manages to keep this level of play up, he might just do it anyway.

Prediction: Suwinski is your starting CF.

Right Field (2): The other position that might be a true battle for who is the OD starter. Connor Joe and Edward Olivares are the pair that are most likely to be said starter.  Joe has quietly had a nice spring at the plate; however, he is not the best defensive player in the outfield. On the other side, Olivares has been good with the glove but has been underwhelming so far at the plate this spring. More than likely, there will be a platoon in RF between Joe and Olivares, unless one really steps ahead as spring continues.

Prediction: Both Joe and Olivares will be on the roster. Though Joe might also play some DH and some 1B at times.

Outfield (0): The magical 4^th Outfield position. Celestino, Bae, and McKinney have already been discussed. The others for this position are Canaan Smith-Njigba and Joshua Palacios. Palacios has been injured so far this spring, so we cannot, in good faith, estimate what he will or won’t do. CSN ended up Restless in Seattle and quickly came back to Pittsburgh. He has looked solid so far this spring, much like a multiple-waived guy does. So, plenty more to this battle, but as it stands right now, who is getting the position?

Prediction: Celestino would be the guy if they were keeping a pure 4th OF.

Designated Hitter (1): Andrew “Pittsburgher of the Year” McCutchen. While he hasn’t played yet this spring he doesn’t need to. At this point in his career, he is aware of what he needs to do and will be ready once the season starts.

Prediction: Cutch.

Rotation (5): A lot of players are in for the five rotation spots this spring. Mitch Keller, Martin Perez, Marco Gonzales, Luis Ortiz, Roasny Contreras, Bailey Falter, Brent Honeywell, Josh Flemming, Chase Anderson, Wily Peralta, Quinn Preister, Jared Jones, Braxton Ashcraft, Jackson Wolf, and Paul Skenes. Let’s knock a few off real quick; the last four listed will not make the OD roster. All have actually looked different levels of good this spring: Wolf pitched a scoreless inning, Jones has pitched two as has Ashcraft, and Skenes has pitched one very good inning as well. All are going back to the minors soon, but Skenes and Jones could be up at some point this season. Keller and Perez have looked good and will be slotted 1 and 2 in the rotation to start the year. Gonzales did not look good to start his spring, but as long as things rebound, we should see him in the 3^rd spot in the rotation. That leaves two spots in the rotation, and eight pitchers for it. Four of which are NRI, of those four Flemming has been hit or miss, had a good first appearance, got roughed up his second, and pitched well in the third. Honeywell pitched well in all three appearances, minus a solo home run allowed. Anderson has one appearance and two strong innings thrown. Peralta has been in two games and has looked good as well. With so many options and a strong bullpen, it will be hard for any of these four to make the opening-day roster, but the next few weeks will be the litmus test for them. Priester has not looked bad this spring either; however, with options left, he is a safe bet to send back to AAA to start the season. Falter has been roughed up a bit this spring giving up lots of hits and home runs, though he hasn’t walked anyone. His chance of a rotation spot is slipping at the moment but he will get plenty more looks this spring. That leaves us both Ortiz and Contreras, both of whom have shown their velocity has potentially returned. If that remains the case and both continue to throw heat, they could both be in the rotation to start the year. Although, Contreras will need to get his control back, and start throwing more strikeouts.

Prediction: Keller, Perez, Gonzales, Ortiz, Contreras.

Bullpen (8): David Bednar, Adrolis Chapman, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski, Jose Hernandez, Dauri Moreta, Hunter Stratton, Ryan Borucki and Colin Selby. To start, there are potentially 6 locks already. Bednar, Chapman, Holderman, Mlodzinski, Hernandez, and Borucki will make the bullpen. Furthermore, Moreta would as well, but with a potential injury looming it is unclear whether or not he will be ready for OD. That leaves two spots in the bullpen for Selby and Stratton and the slew of starters who don’t make the rotation. Selby will not earn one of those spots. He has not been sharp so far this spring and was far from it last season in the games he pitched in. While he may look the most like a Pirate, he will not be one to start the season, or potentially ever again. Stratton has looked good this spring, and could easily make the bullpen, especially if Moreta is hurt for the start of the year; however, if the existing starters keep pitching well, and if the Pirates want to employ openers this year, or the piggy-back starts, then it won’t be Stratton, but two of the pitchers from the previous category that make the rotation.

Prediction: Bednar, Chapman, Holderman, Mlodzinski, Hernandez, Borucki, Falter, Honeywell.

Some of these predictions are set in stone and will not change unless an unexpected injury occurs; however, stop back every week as camp dwindles and players start to show more, or less, of what they can do.