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Pirates News - Spring Training Notebook: Falter impresses, Ashcraft sent down, and more
Bailey Falter impressed in his latest spring training start, the Pittsburgh Pirates make some roster cuts and more in today's spring training notebook.
Welcome back to our Pirates Spring Training Notebooks. Spring Training continues to roll on for the Pirates and with opening day just over two weeks away, rosters are beginning to narrow down, camp battles are under more scrutiny and injuries are beginning to pop up throughout the league.
Below, we discuss the latest developments out of Bradenton and Pirates camp and around the league from Sunday and Monday.
Pirates fall to Red Sox 1-0 - Notes
It was the best start of the spring yet for lefty Bailey Falter who's fighting for a spot in the Pirates rotation. The 26-year old Falter pitched three and two-thirds scoreless innings on Monday, allowing no runs while standing two runners on base. He also struck out four Red Sox in the process.
Brent Honeywell, Jose Hernandez, and Colin Selby all pitched well in relief as well, pitching scoreless innings. Unfortunately, in a 1-0 game someone had to take a loss and that ended up being Ryder Ryan who allowed one earned run in the seventh inning on Nick Sogard ground out that scored top Pirates prospect Marcelo Mayer who hit a double two batters earlier.
The Pirates will be back at it on Tuesday afternoon at LECOM Park in Bradenton as recent signing Chase Anderson will take the mound opposite of Reynaldo Lopez for the Braves.
Notes from Bradenton
A few notables Pirates related items from over the weekend and on Monday:
Starting on Sunday, the Pirates optioned catcher Abrahan Gutierrez, right hander Ben Heller, and left hander Micahel Plassmeyer to minor league camp. Each player was a non-roster invitee this spring.
Then on Monday, the Pirates also optioned pitcher Braxton Ashcraft to minor league camp. Ashcraft is the Pirates No. 7 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline and could make his MLB debut this season. The lengthy right hander notably was Rule 5 eligible this past offseason but was added to the 40-man roster, allowing the Pirates to keep him within the organization.
For Ashcraft, staying healthy will be a major key to success in 2014. Through his four seasons, Ashcraft has only pitched in 45 career games and has never pitched more than 53.0 innings in a season.
On the injury side of things, David Bednar continues to progress back from his right lat tightness and is playing catch according to Manager Derek Shelton, MLB.com's Alex Stumpf recently reported. If all continues to progress well for Bednar could very well return in time for opening day.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
According to Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the San Diego Padres are still looking to add to their outfield depth and have been showing interest in players such as Tommy Pham, Michael A. Taylor, and Adam Duvall.
In not too surprising news out of Boston, Red Sox right hander Lucas Giolito's first season in Beantown may be over before it started. The Red Sox top offseason signing will undergo elbow surgery on Tuesday per Boston Globe writer Pete Abraham.
The St. Louis Cardinals are hoping that free agent signing Sonny Gray could be ready for the start of the season after going down with a hamstring injury recently. The good news for the Cardinals is that Gray threw a 20-pitch bullpen on Monday as he hopes to make a return to the mound soon.
Milwaukee Brewers closer Devin Williams has been undergoing some lower back pain this spring and is now set to see a back specialist Brewers' manager Pat Murphy told the media on Sunday. MLB.com's Jack Magruder has more on Williams here.
Staying in the realm of back injuries, Cubs starter Jameson Taillon may not be ready for opening day as he deals with back issues of his own.