Jordan Lyles To Make Final Pitch For Spot In Pittsburgh Pirates Rotation

Saturday afternoon could give an indication as to who will win the final spot in the Pittsburgh Pirates starting rotation

When the Pittsburgh Pirates signed Jordan Lyles to a one-year contract at Major League Baseball’s Winter Meetings in December, general manager Neal Huntington announced that he would have an opportunity to earn a spot in the team’s starting rotation. When Huntington said this, many people, myself included, saw it as GM speak.

During his career Lyles has struggled mightily as a starting pitcher, but, thanks in part to changes he made, pitched well out of the bullpen for the Milwaukee Brewers last season. Even after adding Lyles, the team still needed another starting pitcher. Unfortunately, they never addressed this need and now Lyles appears to have the inside track to being the team’s fifth starting pitcher.

The Grapefruit League has not been kind to Lyles. In four games, Lyles has posted a 4.91 ERA while allowing 13 hits, two home runs, walking five batters, and striking out seven in 11 innings. He also pitched in a minor league game after leaving an outing with right side discomfort.

On Saturday afternoon, the Pirates will host the Philadelphia Phillies at LECOM Park and Lyles will make his final start of the spring. This will be his final opportunity to, pun intended, make a pitch as to why he should be the team’s fifth starting pitcher.

Helping Lyles cause has been the struggles of Nick Kingham and Steven Brault. Kingham and Brault have combined to allow 17 runs on 32 hits, four home runs, 16 walks, and 23 strikeouts in 31 1/3 innings of work this spring.

In addition to Lyles, the bullpen ‘A Team’ is also scheduled to pitch. Closer Felipe Vazquez, setup man Keone Kela, and the team’s two other high leverage situation relievers – Kyle Crick and Richard Rodriguez – are all scheduled to pitch as well.

Saturday’s game will be part of split squad action. In addition to the Pirates hosting the Phillies in Bradenton, another squad will travel to Fort Myers to battle the Red Sox. In Fort Myers, Opening Day starter Jameson Taillon will get his final spring tune up by facing the defending World Series Champions.

Rookie Davis and Tyler Lyons are both scheduled to pitch after Taillon’s day ends. Lyons is competing for a spot in the team’s bullpen, while Davis will likely start the season in the starting rotation for Triple-A Indianapolis.

Both of Saturday’s games are scheduled for 1:05 PM. The home game against the Phillies will be broadcast on AT&T SportsNet Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the game in Fort Myers against the Red Sox will be on the Pirates Radio Network. You can listen to either on pirates.com or the MLB At Bat App.