The Pirates miseries at the plate cost them another game yesterday, this time in extra innings at Wrigley Field. Joe Block tells us what happened yesterday in Chicago.
Manager Donnie Kelly says the Pirates truly are the “Battlin’ Bucs”.
Kelly says the Bucs play everybody tough, and he’s hoping their efforts start paying off soon.
The Pirates are off today and start a three-game series in Detroit tomorrow.
On The Ben Cherington Show on WCCS yesterday, assistant general manager Steve Sanders said the Pirates are not “ruling anything out,” but they are hoping catcher Endy Rodriguez can return to action this season. Rodriguez is on the sixty-day injured list and will not throw a baseball for at least four more weeks after he gets a platelet-rich plasma injection this week on his injured elbow.
Sanders said catcher Joey Bart is “getting close” to returning from his concussion. He made another rehab start for Indianapolis yesterday and was 1-for-3 and threw out a potential base stealer at second.
Meanwhile, Sanders said the Pirates are still looking for players, by trade or waiver claim, while getting ready for next month’s MLB Draft.
Like everybody else in the Pirates organization, Sanders is excited to watch the progress of Konnor Griffin, last year’s number one draft choice who is tearing up Class A pitching. Griffin is riding a give-game hitting streak since being promoted to Greensboro last week and hit a three-run homer yesterday.
MLB NOTES
- There was a huge trade in Major League baseball yesterday as the Red Sox swapped disgruntled slugger Rafael Devers to the Giants for pitchers Jordan Hicks and Kyle Harrison, plus two minor league prospects. Devers homered yesterday in his last game with the Sox.
- For the first time since 2023, Shohei Ohtani will take the mound in a big league game. He’ll start for the Dodgers tonight against the Padres. The slugger has been a DH since joining the Dodgers after having his second Tommy John surgery. He’s batting .297 with 25 home runs this season. As a pitcher, he is 38-19 with a 3.01 ERA in 86 career starts with the Angels.
