The Pirates put a lid on the 2023 season with a shutout win over Miami yesterday. Joe Block has the recap.
General manager Ben Cherington has a number of decisions to make in the offseason, including a potentially major shakeup to the 40-man roster. As soon as the World Series concludes, players currently on the 60-day injured list must be added back to the roster. That includes infielders Oneil Cruz and Tucupita Marcano, pitchers JT Brubaker, Jarlín Garcia, Angel Perdomo, and Vince Velasquez, who was scheduled to throw a baseball yesterday for the first time since undergoing elbow surgery on June 9th.
Another major move by Cherington will be making a decision on Andrew McCutchen, the team’s most popular player who is also on the 60-day injured list with a partially torn Achilles tendon and is still in a boot cast. McCutchen’s contract is up, but Cherington says he wants to have the veteran back next season, so a new deal will have to be worked out.
Former Pirates and Red Sox pitcher Tim Wakefield died on Saturday from brain cancer at age 57. Wakefield spent 19 years in the Majors, the last 17 with Boston, whom he helped lead to World Series titles in 2004 and 2007. Wakefield finished his career with exactly 200 wins. He began as a minor league first baseman in the Pirates system before discovering the knuckleball and saving his career.
The field is set for the MLB playoffs. The action begins Tuesday with the best-of-three Wild Card round. In the American League, the Tampa Bay Rays will host the Texas Rangers while Twins welcome the Toronto Blue Jays to Minnesota. On the National League side, the Diamondbacks visit the Brewers in Milwaukee and the Marlins play the Phillies in Philadelphia.
The four teams to earn a first-round bye into the Divisional Series, which begin on Saturday, are the Braves and Dodgers in the NL and the Orioles and Astros in the AL.
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