Henry

Rodriguez

''I tried out for them the other day and they said I hit 92 (mph),’' Bichette said. ''They like my fastball and my forkball. I’ll see what I can do. I really want to give pitching a shot.’' He also homered on the first pitch he saw in 2 1/2 years as a DH in his first game. He’s hoping to have enough success as a pitcher to make it back to the majors.

Rodriguez wanted to look for a job elsewhere rather than play for Triple-A Nashville.

The 36-year-old Rodriguez has had just 28 at-bats in the majors over the last three seasons and was out of baseball in 2003. He’s an extreme longshot to make the Pirates as a reserve outfielder.