Pittsburgh Pirates fall in spring training opener to Minnesota 5-3

Henry Davis and Edward Olivares had strong days at the plate as the Pittsburgh Pirates fell to the Minnesota Twins in Saturday afternoon's Grapefruit League opener

The Pittsburgh Pirates opened up their 2024 spring training schedule on the road in Lee County on Saturday as they took on the Minnesota Twins at the Lee Health Sports Complex. Henry Davis had two hits in three at-bats while outfielders Edward Olivares and Matt Fraizer supplied the offensive output in a 5-3 loss.

Left- handed pitcher Bailey Falter, looking to earn a spot in the Pirate rotation got the start, allowing two runs in his two innings of work. The Pirates pitchers, overall had a strong day with five of seven pitchers posting scoreless innings.

Let's take a closer look at the Bucco standouts both at the plate and on the mound on Saturday afternoon.

Pirates lineup has solid afternoon but struggle with RISP

The Pirates were able to get plenty on base on Saturday afternoon with 10 hits and four walks, however, the Pirates in the process left 12 on base in the loss while going 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Second-year catcher Henry Davis got off to a solid start this spring with a 2-for-3 day at the plate including a 103.8 mph line drive single in the third inning that helped set up an Edward Olivares two RBI triple just two batters later.

Two other Pirates had two hits on Saturday including veteran first baseman Jake Lamb, who signed with the Pirates as a minor league free agent this past offseason, and designated hitter Gilberto Celestino.

In the seventh inning, 25-year old outfielder Matt Fraizer who spent the last two seasons with Double-A Altoona had a line drive single that knocked in Carter Bins to cut the Pirates deficit to 5-3.

Other notables at the plate on Saturday for the Pirates included Termarr Johnson seeing time at the plate. The 19-year-old prospect was 0-for-2 in his pair of at-bats. Johnson, who was named the top second base prospect in all of baseball by Baseball America, will be worth monitoring in camp.

Pirates pitchers have quality afternoon against Twins

The Pirates used seven different pitchers on Saturday in the loss to Minnesota and for the most part it was a quality afternoon for the Buccos.

As mentioned prior, Falter got the start for the Pirates, he went two innings allowing two earned runs across four hits. He also struck out three. Falter enters this spring with no options left and is competing for a spot in the back of the Pirate rotation.

One of the Pirates' top pitching prospects, Jared Jones, was the first man up following Falter's two innings pitched and the former second-round pick had himself an easy inning. In his lone inning of work Jones allowed one run while getting a pop up, groundout, and a lineout. The 22-year-old starter did a good job of working around and near the zone in his lone inning of work as well with nine strikes on 15 total pitches.

Josh Fleming and Jose Hernandez were the next two up for the Pirates out of the pen.

Fleming who was signed by the Pirates as a free agent earlier this month worked a scoreless fourth inning allowing one hit while Hernandez struck out the side while walking one in a scoreless fifth inning.

The toughest performance of the afternoon belonged to 25-year-old right-hander Kyle Nicolas. In his lone inning of work, Nicolas allowed three runs across three hits including a three-run home run by Twins left fielder Daulton Shuffield to put the Twins up 5-2 in the bottom of the sixth.

Nicolas is hoping to find a spot in the Pirates pen at some point this season after making four appearances last season, allowing seven earned runs in 5.1 innings pitched.

Michael Plassmeyer and Hunter Stratton would round out the Pirates pitching efforts in the seventh and eighth innings respectively, both pitching scoreless innings.

As a team, the Pirates' pitching staff allowed 10 hits on the afternoon while walking one and striking out nine.

Highlight of the game

The highlight of Saturday's spring training opener for the Pirates was a two-run triple by offseason pickup Edward Olivares. The former Kansas City Royal roped a low-and-away sinker from Justin Topa into center field, allowing Henry Davis and Canaan Smith-Njigba to both score and to the game at the time at 2-2.

Olivares is entering his fifth season in the MLB, spending the last four with the San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals. For his career, he's a .261/.310/.426 hitter with 24 home runs, 35 doubles, and five triples while driving in 73 across 230 games and 771 plate appearances. Olivares is coming off the most productive season of his career, playing in 107 games last year for the Royals while producing a slash of .263/.317/.452 with 12 home runs and 36 RBI.

The Pirates acquired Olivares in mid-December for 22-year old minor league infielder Deivis Nadal.