Pittsburgh

Pirates

Lowe, who was acquired from the Rays in the offseason, hit a two-run homer in the first and a solo shot in the third for his ninth career multihomer game. Obviously, his quiet spring, when he went 6-for-30 with no RBI, didn’t mean much of anything. The Pirates like him batting second in spite of his history of mediocre OBPs, and as long as that lasts, he’ll have some extra fantasy value.

Cruz’s season was off to a good start for about 10 minutes; he singled as the Pirates’ leadoff man in the first and then scored on Brandon Lowe’s homer. In the bottom of the inning, though, he misjudged Brett Baty’s fly over his head, leading to a three-run triple, and then lost Marcus Semien’s fly in the sun for a double. Because of the miscues, Skenes failed to make it out of the first in what eventually turned out to be an 11-7 loss. Cruz seems to be in a pretty good place offensively right now. However, if he continues to struggle defensively, it might send him back into the platoon role in which he finished last season.

If this game had taken place two days ago, Skenes would have been lifted after 30 pitches and brought back out for the second inning. Alas, that couldn’t happen in the regular season. Skenes made his own trouble by walking Francisco Lindor and Luis Robert Jr. in the first, but the first two hits he allowed were soft singles and the third was a bases-loaded triple that Oneil Cruz misplayed in center. The fourth was a double that Cruz lost in the sun. There was nothing wrong with Skenes’ stuff today, but the Pirates simply couldn’t risk continuing on with him at 37 pitches in the first in the first game of the season. Most likely, Skenes will make his next start Wednesday against the Reds. The Pirates, though, would have the option of bringing him back early if they’d like.

The Pirates are going to be starting four pure left-handed hitters against righties: Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz, Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn. Their OBPs over the last two years are .311 for Cruz, .355 for Horwitz, .309 for Lowe and .351 for O’Hearn. So, guess which two Don Kelly seems to prefer batting first and second in his lineup? Well, it was Cruz first, Lowe second, O’Hearn fifth and Horwitz seventh today. Lowe was dropped to fifth a couple of times during the middle of the month, but he’s only hit second recently. It’s not a disaster or anything, but Lowe’s typical line is that of a good No. 5 hitter, and it seems like he’s mostly hitting second because, well, he’s a second baseman and that’s what second basemen did back in Kelly’s day.

With Carmen Mlodsinski being named the fifth starter and both Jose Urquidy and Hunter Barco making the Opening Day roster, it seems like Clevinger may be the Pirates’ seventh or eighth starter right now. This spring, he allowed eight runs on 10 hits in 14 1/3 innings while striking out 15 and walking 10. He has pitched only 21 2/3 MLB innings since 2023.

Barco, MLB’s 95th-ranked prospect, made his MLB debut last season with just three innings out of the bullpen. He will presumably start this season in the bullpen as well, with Carmen Mlodzinski already named the team’s fifth starter. That means Barco will be the presumed sixth starter and long reliever and should get a chance to start if Mlodzinski falters. Barco looked good this spring, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits in 9 1/3 innings while striking out 12 and walking six. He might not be worth adding right now in his current role, but fantasy managers should watch Mlodzinski’s early starts closely to see if Barco will get a shot.

Although he generated just four whiffs on 33 swings, Keller was able to strike out five today. He ends the spring with a 4.80 ERA and a 20/8 K/BB in 15 innings. He’s slated to face the Mets in the Pirates’ second game of the season on Saturday, but he doesn’t come recommended in mixed leagues.

Quite the barnburner of a catching competition in Pittsburgh this spring. Bart is 5-for-34 with 16 strikeouts and a .392 OPS. Henry Davis homered today, pushing him all of the way up to .138 with a .631 OPS in 36 plate appearances. Endy Rodríguez actually did hit this spring, going 8-for-26 with two homers, but the Pirates demoted him anyway. Rafael Flores Jr., who was the return in the David Bednar deal with the Yankees, has also been sent down after going 2-for-25. The Pirates will just keep rolling with Bart and Davis for now and will likely let the hot hand, should one ever emerge, dictate playing time.

The 27-year-old right-hander will make his first start on Sunday against the Mets. Mlodzinski did a nice job during Grapefruit League play, registering a 2.92 ERA, 1.38 WHIP and a 14/2 K/BB ratio over 12 1/3 innings of work. It’s possible that he could carve out some fantasy value in deeper mixed leagues if he holds onto that rotation spot.

On the pitching side, Devenski had a shot at making the team’s Opening Day bullpen, but struggled to a 6.75 ERA and 1.69 WHIP over 5 1/3 innings during Grapefruit League play. Williams had a solid spring offensively, hitting .258 (8-for-31) with a homer and seven RBI, but that wasn’t enough to secure a spot on the Pirates’ Opening Day bench.