The Pirates got off to a great start on their six-game homestand with a sweep of the Dodgers, but then the Brewers came to town and blasted the Bucs in three straight games. Yesterday, they bombed Bubba Chandler in his first big league start. Greg Brown has the story.
The Pirates are off today and begin a three-game series against the Orioles in Baltimore. Manager Donnie Kelly has been mixing up his rotation and has settled on Mike Burrows tomorrow night, Paul Skenes on Wednesday, and Johan Oviedo on Thursday.
On The Ben Cherington Show on WCCS yesterday, the Pirates’ general manager said the team wants to give its young starting pitchers a chance to start games on the big league level while looking ahead to competing for a rotation spot in spring training
The Pirates are also shuffling infielders around to different spots. Nick Gonzalez played shortstop in a game this weekend and Jared Triolo has played every position in the infield this season. Cherington says Triolo’s versatility is an asset for the team.
Cherington also talked about Konnor Griffin, who has risen rapidly through the Pirates’ system. One aspect of his game they are “monitoring” is Griffin’s propensity for getting hit by pitches…22 times this season, including six with Altoona. He says Griffin is only 19 years old and he has no “backdown” in his makeup.
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