The Pirates are eager to start their “Spring Training 2.0” tomorrow at PNC Park and at Peoples Gas Field in Altoona. Veteran broadcaster Greg Brown is anxious to get going too, even if it means he and his fellow broadcasters won’t be going on the road with the team.
Brown, Joe Block, Bob Walk, and John Wehner will be broadcasting Pirates’ road games from the Pittsburgh television studios, as Major League Baseball says broadcasters will not be permitted as part of a team’s traveling party.
As to the actual product on the field, on Indiana In the Morning yesterday on WCCS, Pirates broadcaster Greg Brown said Spring Training in Florida proved to him that new manager Derek Shelton has a winning approach.
Brown says that in a shortened season, the Pirates might have a better chance than they would have with the full 162-game schedule.
The Pirates have signed their fourth-round draft pick, pitcher Jack Hartman. The 6-3, 205-pound right-hander from Appalachian State was 1-0 with 22 strikeouts and four saves in 12 innings in the shortened season. He was also an outfielder in his college career, which included stints with the College of Central Florida and Tallahassee Community College.
Of the six picks they had in this year’s draft, the Bucs have also signed top pick Nick Gonzalez and fifth round choice Logan Hoffman, and have agreed to contract terms with second round pick Jarod Jones, another right-handed pitcher.
Still unsigned are two more right-handers taken in the draft, Competitive Balance choice Carmen Mlodzinski and third rounder Nick Garcia.
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