Pittsburgh Pirates: Grapefruit League Game 28

On Sunday afternoon, the Pittsburgh Pirates will travel to Clearwater, Florida, to play the Philadelphia Phillies in game 28 of Grapefruit League play.

The end of the Grapefruit League season is almost here. One week from tomorrow the Pittsburgh Pirates will travel to Fenway Park in Boston for their season-opening series against the Red Sox.

At 1:05 PM this afternoon the Pittsburgh Pirates will travel to Clearwater to play the Philadelphia Phillies. This will be game 28 of their Grapefruit League season. Including their exhibition with the Toronto Blue Jays in Montreal next Saturday, the Pirates are scheduled to play 33 Grapefruit League games.

Josh Lindblom will start for the Pirates this afternoon. Relievers Wade LeBlanc, A.J. Schugel, and Jared Hughes are all scheduled to pitch as well. Lindblom will start the year at Triple-A Indianapolis, most likely in their starting rotation, while the other three pitchers are all competing for a spot in the Pirate bullpen.

For the Phillies, Clay Buchholz is scheduled to make the start. The former Red Sox pitcher is entering his first season in the City of Brotherly Love. Hector Neris, Luis Garcia, and Joaquin Benoit are all scheduled to pitch for the Phillies, too.

As of this writing, neither team had released their lineups for this afternoon’s game. Once the Pirate lineup is known it will be posted here at Rum Bunter.

Jameson Taillon will also be pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. The right-handed starting pitcher is scheduled to pitch in a Minor League game at Pirate City. Gerrit Cole did this on Friday, eclipsing the 100 pitch mark in seven innings of work.

UPDATE

Each team has released their lineups, and they are listed below.

Pirates:

1. Jordy Mercer – SS
2. Josh Bell – 1B
3. David Freese – 3B
4. John Jaso – RF
5. Jose Osuna – LF
6. Austin Meadows – CF
7. Gift Ngoepe – 2B
8. Jackson Williams – C
9. Josh Lindblom – P

Phillies:

1. Jesmuel Valentin – 2B
2. Howie Kendrick – LF
3. Odubel Herrera – CF
4. Maikel Franco – 3B
5. Michael Saunders – RF
6. Daniel Nava – 1B
7. Andrew Knapp – C
8. Freddy Galvis – SS
9. Clay Buchholz – P

Francisco Cervelli was originally scheduled to catch for the Pirates this afternoon. However, he was scratched this morning. Do not worry, though, as it is a healthy scratch. The Pirate backstop is just fine.

As always, stay tuned here at Rum Bunter for all of the latest Pittsburgh Pirates’ news. Especially during what is sure to be a busy week leading up to the season-opening series for the 2017 edition of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club.