Pittsburgh Pirates News: Socrates Brito Participating in Camp

The Pittsburgh Pirates had at least two players test positive for Covid-19 before the start of Summer Camp.  One of those players has been now been able to report.

For Major League Baseball to return, results from testing for Covid-19 were going to be key.  The good news was that only about 1.5 percent of players tested positive, this blew away the expectations. This allowed the Pittsburgh Pirates and the rest of the league to have a relatively fluid start up to Spring Training 2.0, aka Summer Camp.

However, as I mentioned there were some players who did test positive for Covid.  The Pittsburgh Pirates had at least two players themselves in Blake Cederlind and Socrates Brito.  There could have been more positive tests, but players have the right to keep that information private.

The good news is that outfielder Socrates Brito is back at camp already.  This is good news for multiple reasons; most importantly, it’s good that he is healthy and feeling well, secondly it’s good to see him feeling well enough to participate.  Also, it is good in general just to see that players are able to return to action as soon as possible after testing.  Adam Berry from Pirates.com tweeted the updates yesterday:

Brito had to test negative two times before returning to the Pittsburgh Pirates.  This is part of the guidelines that were set by the league and the MLBPA for a return to play.  Furthermore, he is considered to be asymptomatic.  Hopefully, Brito and his family remain healthy and do not have to deal with Covid again.

Meanwhile, this gives Brito an opportunity to get in nearly a full camp.  The 27-year-old outfielder was brought in to the Pittsburgh Pirates organization as Triple-A outfield depth for the majors.  He has never hit much at the big league level, but can play all three outfield positions and can run.  Overall he is a career .179 hitter at the big league level, albeit only in 218 games.

Still, he hit .282/.328/.510 for Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate last year so he has shown some promise, at least at the Triple-A level.  While he was a long shot to make the roster back in March, Brito should have a good opportunity to now.  The fact that he can play multiple outfield positions and is a left-handed hitter with experience should give him an opportunity.

Even if he does not make the 30 man roster at the beginning of the year, Socrates Brito will likely get some playing time.  While he has not done much at the big league level, the Bucs should be able to get an idea of whether or not his Triple-A production can translate to the big leagues.  The good news is that Brito was able to get through Covid-19 and now he will get an opportunity to make the team.