Pittsburgh Pirates general manager Neal Huntington always meets with the media on Sunday home games to delve into a series of topics. Not surprisingly, the two roster moves fresh in the mind were the central topics of today's session. Huntington broke each move down to better explain the reasoning, starting with the Steve Lombardozzi call-up, which resulted in pitcher Chris Volstad being designated for assignment. “The first move was to re-balance the 12 pitchers and 13 position players," ... Read More
Pirates pregame 6/23: Locke regains confidence
It is the start of another home stand for the Pittsburgh Pirates as the team returns to town to face the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates are 1-5 against the Reds this season and 1-2 at PNC Park. Locke goes back to basics Jeff Locke gets the start for the Pirates and is 1-0 in his last three starts. He also has not allowed a run at PNC Park in his last 16.2 innings pitched. Locke was a winner in his last start which was Wednesday against the Chicago White Sox. He allowed two runs on three ... Read More
Pirates pregame 6/16: Hayes signs with Pirates; Bastardo glorious of late
An eight-game homestand concludes tonight when the Pittsburgh Pirates face the Chicago White Sox. In last night's game the Pirates tied a season high scoring 11 runs in a shutout victory against the White Sox. Francisco Liriano struck out 12 batters which also tied a season high. Tonight’s starters: The Pirates will send Charlie Morton to the mound to face Jose Quintana. Morton is 2-6 with a 5.00 ERA in 10 career Interleague starts. He pitched 7.1 shutout innings allowing three hits ... Read More
Loyalty in baseball conflicts with ‘the line’
Loyalty is a concept that can take a lifetime for many people to perfect. In baseball, however, it is extremely complicated and can come in between winning. Many can see loyalty in the sport a different way which makes it all the more complicated. Take Pirates reliever Jared Hughes for example. He has been on both sides of the coin where he was kept on the roster and early in his career had stints in both the major and minor leagues. For Hughes, the loyalty is about the battle and the ... Read More
Pirates pregame 6/15: Hello Newman, sorry Vance
The Pittsburgh Pirates have had its struggles at the start of Interleague play this season with a 1-4 record. The Pirates now being a four game stretch against the Chicago White Sox with two games at home and two on the road. Tonight’s starters: The Pirates will face its second consecutive lefty. They are in the middle of a stretch containing four left-handed starters. Francisco Liriano is the Pirates pitcher tonight and is 5-4 with a 4.99 ERA in 15 career games [11 starts]. His last start ... Read More
Pirates take ‘best player available’ approach
You can call it the year of the shortstop as the Pirates drafted shortstops Kevin Newman and Kevin Kramer, while also drafting third basemen Ke'Bryan Hayes. "It's a good year for shortstops and it's been a good year for middle-of-the-diamond players," Pirates general manager Neal Huntington said. "Each Draft has strengths. Each Draft has challenges. This just happened to be a good year for middle-of-the-diamond players." Newman got the call two minutes before the selection was made and ... Read More
Huntington discusses draft, Glasnow, Kingham
In what may be the last time he meets with reporters before the MLB Draft, Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington discussed the class, minor league depth and addressed whether Chris Stewart was Gerrit Cole's personal catcher. The MLB Draft will be June 8-June 10, and for the second consecutive year, the Pirates will be picking late. “This is a really good class to be picking from the back end of the first round," Huntington said. "There’s a ton of gray at the top of the draft, ... Read More
Neal Huntington presser 5/10: GM provides updates on Glasnow, Kingham
Pittsburgh Pirates General Manager Neal Huntington met with reporters prior to Sunday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals and as always discussed a variety of topics. The question on everyone's mind was an update on Nick Kingham's elbow injury. Outside of the identity of the injury's location and that he was placed on the disabled list, not much was known. “As we know over the years we’re going to wait until we get the second opinion to talk about what might be going on," Huntington ... Read More
COLUMN: Travis Snider is latest player Pirates let walk too soon
First off, let's get one thing straight; Pirates' management has done a fantastic job to turn the team around in a few short years. Not too long ago, it was hoping and praying that the Pirates could win as many games as they would lose. Now, national media outlets are predicting the Pirates to win the World Series. Seriously, let that sink in for a minute. Back? OK, let's continue then. The one issue I do have is not that the Pirates are too cheap, or they let their star players walk/trade ... Read More
Pirates catching depth provides options
The Pittsburgh Pirates are heading into its 15th anniversary at PNC Park with a team that is expected to contend in the National League Central for the third consecutive season. After two straight seasons of making the playoffs, now the Pirates are being projected by many to make a run in the playoffs. A lot of this is because of the Pirates depth. Previous outcries from Pirates fans have now turned into words of thanks. This piece is the first of several breaking down Pirates positions. ... Read More