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.

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Recapping the weekend that was in Bradenton for the Pittsburgh Pirates, as well as some news and notes from around baseball

The first full week of spring training is in the books. Over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Pirates began their schedule of spring training games against the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles, losing both games on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday, the Pirates fell to the Minnesota Twins 5-3 while on Sunday, the Baltimore Orioles got the best of the Buccos in a 2-0 game in Bradenton. Sunday's game also saw the return of Oneil Cruz to the team's lineup.

Despite going 0-2 there were still positives to take away from the weekend.

For starters, Pirates pitching for the most part had a very good weekend. Out of the organization's 15 pitchers who took the mound in their two games, only four allowed runs and only two allowed earned runs. Kyle Nicolas got hit around the hardest, allowing a home run on Saturday while Bailey Falter allowed two runs on four hits against the Twins as well.

Top five prospect Jared Jones was especially strong on Saturday against the Twins. Jones's velocity topped out at 98.9 mph on his fastball and 90.0 mph on his slider. In his inning of work he allowed one hit and no runs.

With that, here are a few more notes from over the weekend out of Bradenton.

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.

AROUND THE LEAGUE

Los Angeles Dodgers prized free agent signing Shohei Ohtani is expected to make his Cactus League debut on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox per the Dodgers. While Ohtani won't pitch this year for Los Angeles, he is expected to be the team's full-time designated hitter.

The Chicago Cubs have had a busy past 36. After signing Cody Bellinger to a three-year, $80 million deal on Sunday morning, they agreed to a deal with free agent first baseman Garrett Cooper to a minor league. Last season for Miami and San Diego, Cooper hit .251 with 17 home runs and 61 RBI.

Next. DFA potential RPs to watcgh. 3 Out of option pitchers to watch. dark

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