With yesterday being a day off for the Pirates there is no shortage of articles about the Pirates
- I’m in shock, I actually agree with something that Bob Smizik wrote; the stats for spring training are useless.
- A good article from Dejan Kovacevic today about the new style of pitching prospects. I especially like this part:
For far too long, the spring mounds here have seen an endless string of smaller-bodied, soft-tossing fringe prospects with — I’ve heard this one 1,000 times — “no fear of the strike zone.”
This is changing since the prospects are now well over 6 foot and 220 pounds and can throw the ball really, really fast. For example, Luis Heredia now claims his fastball can hit 98 mph.
- Pirates starters compete for ace status - I think that it’s way too early to consider any of these pitchers, Burnett included, as an ace. The best pitcher on the staff, maybe. But not an ace.
- Clint Hurdle praises Tony Sanchez. Interesting.
- A nice article from Tim over at Pirate Prospects about how special a pitcher Gerrit Cole can be. This is important to remember especially when you hear that his former teammate Trevor Bauer may be starting for the Diamondbacks this season.
