Pirates News - Spring Training Notebook: Pirates start spring training games Saturday, Keller extension announced

Baseball is officially back as the Pittsburgh Pirates will play their first spring training game on Saturday while Mitch Keller's extension was officially announced.

Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates
Chicago Cubs v Pittsburgh Pirates | Joe Sargent/GettyImages
2 of 3

NOTES FROM BRADENTON

The Pirates will play their first spring training game on Saturday against the Minnesota Twins. The game will not be televised but Pirates fans can listen to the game on KDKA-FM 93.7 The Fan.

The 26-year old lefty is battling it out for a spot in the Pirates rotation this spring. Notably, he has no options left which could play into his advantage. Last season, Falter was 2-9 with a 5.36 ERA and 1.41 WHIP in 80.2 innings pitched. Also expected to pitch on Saturday is LHP Bailey Falter, RHP Jared Jones, LHP Michael Plassmeyer, LHP Josh Fleming, LHP Jose Hernandez, and RHP Kyle Nicolas.

You can read more about each of these pitchers and where they sit in terms of potentially making the team's Opening Day roster here.

Sunday's Spring Training home opener against Baltimore will be televised on SportsNet-PIT. The Pirates have not announced their plans for Sunday's game when it comes to pitching.

Schedule