Pittsburgh Pirates News - Spring Training notebook: 0-2 Grapefruit start, Davis fighting for roster spot & more

The Pittsburgh Pirates may be 0-2 in the win/loss column but there are plenty of positives and more to talk about heading into the second full week of spring training.
Pittsburgh Pirates Photo Day
Pittsburgh Pirates Photo Day / Julio Aguilar/GettyImages
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NOTES FROM BRADENTON

While on Sunday's broadcast, Pirates general manager Ben Cherrington noted that free agent catcher signing Yasmani Grandal was the only backstop currently locked for the Opening Day roster. The Pirates earlier this month inked Grandal to a one-year contract worth $2.5 million, which doesn't make Cherrington's statement all too surprising.

That being said, Cherrington did not say the same about former No. 1 overall pick and former top prospect Henry Davis. Davis is expected to be a full-time catcher for the Buccos this season with Endy Rodriguez out for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery this offseason.

Davis will have to win a spot on the Pirates roster as he battles both Jason Delay and Ali Sanchez.

The 24-year old Davis hit .213/.302/.351 in 62 games for the Pirates in 2023 with seven home runs and 24 RBI. On Saturday, he got his spring training underway in strong fashion with a 2-for-3 day at the plate.

The Pirates will be back in action on Monday afternoon as they make the trip to Dunedin to take on the Toronto Blue Jays. Taking the mound for the Pirates will be Roansy Contreras , making his spring training debut while Yusei Kikuchi will be on the mound for the Blue Jays.

For those interested in watching the Pirates this week. Three games will be televised locally. Monday's matchup against Toronto will be a rare spring training away game telecast while Friday's home matchup against Tampa Bay and Sunday's home matchup against Baltimore will both be televised as well on SportsNet - PIT.