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.
As the Pirates prepare for their spring training opener on Saturday, the club officially announced Mitch Keller's contract extension on Friday
The Pittsburgh Pirates are set to begin their spring training schedule on Saturday, making
Friday an uneventful day in Bradenton. Notably, one day after it was reported that the Pirates had come to an extension with right handed starter Mitch Keller, the club officially announced the deal while holding a press conference.
"I couldn't be more excited to be here with the Pirates, it's all I've ever known," Keller said during the press conference. "Just joining Ke'Bryan and Bryan Reynolds, just super excited with the group that we have and the future that's to come," he added. "It's a really exciting time to be a Pirate, I couldn't be more thrilled."
With his new five-year, $77 million deal, the Pirates have locked Keller up through the 2028 season.
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.
AROUND THE LEAGUE
After the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers kicked off spring training games on Thursday, nine other teams began their spring training slates on Friday with the rest of the league beginning on Saturday. All 30 Major League clubs will be playing on Saturday.
Friday was a slow news day across the league as everyone still awaits the signing of key free agents such as outfielder Cody Bellinger, third baseman Matt Chapman, and starting pitchers Blake Snell and Jordan Montgomery.
In terms of interesting news, former Major League outfielder Carlos Gomez, who most notably spent a large portion of his career with the Pittsburgh Pirates is training for the Dominican Republic National championship in cycling according to Brewers writer Todd Rosiak. Gomez hopes to one day qualify for the Olympics in cycling.